Buying a new pair of eyeglasses is the last thing on your to-do list and even further away from your monthly budget. Who has the money for such luxuries these days? We want to save our money, not spend it frivolously!
Well, in the past, you’d have been right! Glasses were horribly overpriced at hundreds of dollars per frame, before adding the prescription lenses; and if you decided to buy them at all (or it became urgent enough to do so), you may have found yourself paying them off for months, or worse, having to skimp on other necessities in order to be able to see properly. More than this, you’d have to spend hours at the optometrist trying on different pairs, often going with a pair of frames that you didn’t love, all because you were clock-watching and had to get back to the office.
Today, though, the online world has brought with it some wonderful surprises in the way we shop and spend our money. By cutting out the middle man, many online retailers have been able to shed their prices down to the bare minimum and let the customers enjoy the experience of buying for less.
It took a few years but now too, the eyeglasses world has caught on and those in need, can buy glasses online and receive savings of up to 70% from those that they would have bought at an offline retailer. These discount eyeglasses are the furthest from cheap, in any sense of the word. They are the same quality as offline-sold glasses, often even produced at the same manufacturers and yet, they are affordable. You may be surprised to find out that sometimes, online-bought designer glasses even land up being cheaper than a regular offline-bought pair would have been.
What’s more, customers no longer need to take time out of their busy schedules to go and try on and then pick up their new prescription eyeglasses. As we all know, time is money and every moment is precious, therefore, eyewear bought online can be chosen in your own time – when it suits YOU, not when it suits the eye care practitioner; and it is then delivered to your chosen address.
So what do you need to shop for glasses online?
- Your updated eyeglasses prescription, inclusive of Pupillary Distance (PD)
- A relevant form of online payment, such as PayPal or a credit card.
Having a head and shoulders full frontal digital photograph will also help you and you will be able to use the virtual mirror option that allows you to “try on” hundreds of discount eyeglasses and see how they will look on you. You can also then send them on to friends and family to hear their recommendations of which you should pick.
In addition to all of this, online retailers often hold promotions that increase your savings and provide the option to buy glasses in larger quantities like two or three pairs for less than one pair would have cost by buying it offline. Therefore, if you’re buying for a family; need more than one pair of glasses; or want sunglasses and eyeglasses then online glasses shopping should be your only consideration to spare yourself nasty financial surprises.
Hillary Glaser is the Director of Marketing and Special Projects for GlassesUSA.com – the easiest way to buy glasses online. She oversees day-to-day operations for all marketing and promotions of eyeglasses for the company.