Through July 25th, EyeBuyDirect is having a Buy One Get One Free Sale for all Prescription Eyeglasses. Offer does not include Designer or Sports frames or Sunglasses. Minimum order of $20. Eyeglasses start at $8.
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Minimum order $20.
Would you want glasses that cost less than $20? IMO, most people will want the thinner lenses anyway which by themselves raise the price $20 or more.
I haven't bought on-line, but i have bought "quality" in store glasses ($270) progressive bi-focal w/standard frames, and trans lenses. I have also bought at costco w/exam for $150.
The difference is in the quality of the lenses, the quality of the frames, and if you add the price of the exam, you end up with low quality if you buy on-line.
I say this because the more expensive glasses are just that, and the frames are of more hardy build.
The cheaper lenses are made of a poly carbonate that requires more frequent cleaning, and the frames bend easier, and require tightening/tunning more often.
Your choice.... cheap solution with a lot of aggravation/maintenance that will work, or a few bucks more that are more hassle free.
I've only been wearing glasses since 1995, but with everyday wear, I think my opinion is valid as I have looked to minimize update costs.
I used to spend a lot of money on Rx glasses from Oakley (great optics and comfort though a bit heavy due to the glass) and also online cheap lightweight poly-carb glasses. Instead of spending $200 on oakleys (on pro-deal) I started just buying the lightweight poly-carbs. Even with scratch coating the oakleys scratched up in the same amount of time as the cheapies and in my opinion the optics were only marginally better.
If you do wear glasses on an everyday basis (i don't anymore, tired of buying Rx sunglasses) then just go with these cheap ones, the frames are light and the optics just fine (i don't have any astigmatism or something like that). For $50 you can get decent frames, higher index lenses, AR and scratch coating. Now with this deal you can get 2 for the price of one.
Cheap glasses can be good/useful, it just depends. I mainly wear contacts, but wear glasses for probably an hour or two at the beginning and end of each day. I also wear them on days my allergies are bad. I purchased a pair of glasses from an eye doctor, got nice frames, fancy lens upgrades, etc. and paid about $250. A year later, my prescription had changed and the lenses alone would be about $125. I started looking on deal sites and found zenni optical. I got a pair there for $19 after adding the anti-reflective coating and shipping. I have a fairly high prescription (7.0 in one eye, 7.5 in the other), but the lenses were still barely thicker than my "expensive" ones.
The frames are a little flimsy and I actually just broke them last night, but I can get a replacement frame for $4 plus $5 shipping. Even at $20 for a total pair, I could buy 5 pairs a year and still come out ahead. My pair that just broke lasted a year.
I could see if I only wore glasses and wore them all day, how the cheaper glasses and lenses could be a pain, but for someone like me that wants decent looking glasses, but doesn't want to pay a fortune, deals like this are great.
#5, i too use zenni optical and found that while they break "easily" they still last awhile and like you said 5 pairs a year and come out ahead which is far above and beyond what you'd ever need!
The difference is in the quality of the lenses, the quality of the frames, and if you add the price of the exam, you end up with low quality if you buy on-line.
Actually you only end up with low quality if you buy the really cheap ones. I'm on year 2 or 3 for my titanium framed glassses bought online and the only problem I have had is a nose-pad fell off because the screw holding it on was loose and fell out.
The lenses are fine, they come in your choice of material based on thickness and polycarb are not the cheapest ones BUT some people want polycarb because unlike the others polycarb is shatter resistant... important if you are in situations where something might hit the glasses like playing sports.
No type of lense requires more frequent cleaning, although if you get an anti-glare coating on any lense type you will likely need to use a microfiber cloth to dry them after cleaning as the anti-glare coating makes streaks if you don't use the right cloth... but you're really supposed to use such a cloth with any lense, it's just that in a pinch you can't grab a paper towel and get a streak-free dry lense with most anti-glare coatings.
I hate to break it to you but local eyeglasses shops pretty much bend people over and ream them on the price... they usually get their lense stock and frames overseas, then charge a premium for the store, the staff, maintaining stock, etc. Any locally bought eyewear has well over 70% markup.