I like to say I am not cheap, I am frugal. I like quality and I would rather pay a little more for something that would last, but I also love to save money. Buying eyeglasses online was a bit of risky territory, but I did my research and put in my first order from EyeBuyDirect in February of 2011. I ordered a pair of glasses for $36.12 (including shipping!). I added a “Tint Key” of “Grey 60%” so I could use these glasses for driving. Essentially I created a pair of prescription sunglasses for only $36.12. Can you say sweet!
Overall I was pleased with this purchase, so when Adam needed new glasses as well, we returned to EyeBuyDirect for another purchase. I definitely learned a few things my first time ordering online, so I felt more comfortable with this second purchase. I am in no way affiliated with EyeBuyDirect. For my first order, I chose EyeBuyDirect over other popular choices like Zenni Optical or $39 Dollar Glasses because after adding my prescription lens with a tint they were the cheapest choice. Many online eyeglass sellers can be misleading because they don’t share upfront the cost of adding a prescription lens to the frame you choose. Make sure you do your research with whoever you choose. The second time around I decided to go with EyeBuyDirect again because of this. During the holiday season, they offer 50% off Gift Vouchers (I don’t know when this offer will expire). You can only use one voucher per order and it is a one time deal, meaning you cannot reuse any of your unused voucher money. It is smart to put your order together first to see how much voucher money you will need.
Adam and I already had an order in place for 4 pairs, that’s right, FOUR pairs of glasses. He wanted three pairs; an everyday pair, a computer use only pair, and a sport sunglasses pair. I was putting in an order for a second pair of everyday glasses because I have the tendency to break my glasses. The last time that happened I was without glasses for over a month. I figure (for me) a backup pair is a necessity. This brought our order total to around $158.00. Since the gift vouchers come in $20-$100 values (and you can’t use more than one), I went ahead and purchased a $100 voucher for Adam to use on the order. It was supposed to be sent instantly to my email. So I waited. And waited. And waited! Finally I contacted customer service and had a surprisingly lovely chat. (I removed names and personal information from the chat log. You can also see the quirky files that were on my desktop at the time.)
The customer service person resolved the issue by giving my gift voucher redemption code directly. Thank goodness! Adam promptly placed our order.
Although our order total is only $61.37, you have to keep in mind that I paid $50 for the voucher, so in actuality we spent $111.37. This means we spend $27.84 on average for each pair of prescription glasses. Not too shabby!
Oh, I almost forgot. EyeBuyDirect offers “loyalty dollars” so I was able to save an additional $3 because of my previous purchase. They also gave me a code to share on facebook, twitter, or other social media that will save you and a friend $10. If you are interested, my EyeBuyDirect is: IFYIQIZN8A.
Happy eyeglass shopping! Be sure to read my tips for ordering glasses online here. I will post part two to this review once my order arrives. I can’t wait!
“Watch out for this company. Had no problem with my first order as it was shipped to Canada via UPS. They now changed to Canada Post. Order never arrived. Found out it was delivered to Vancouver and was sitting at Canada Post. Called EyeBuy and they said I had to pay Canada Post before they will deliver it – even though I already paid $9.95 for XPO Canada Priority Parcel. they said you pay Canada Post and send us the receipt and we will pay you. Can’t believe a company would ruin their reputation over something like this. I contacted American Express and have to wait 30 days on non delivery then will file a claim against the company to refund my funds then.”
I ordered 2 pairs of glasses from Eye Buy Direct and the whole experience was pretty good. Great prices on the frames, wasn’t sure about the quality of the lenses.
Found one of the frames to be way too big for my face. Kind of difficult to judge with a picture of yourself and a funny plasticky frame on your face. Nevertheless, I misjudged what the frames would look like on my face and returned the glasses. Paid for shipping (19.95 in Canada in order to get a tracking number) and the $10.00 restocking fee. Ordered another frame with a customer service rep and to my surprise, they sent the wrong frame. This one was bigger than the original one I sent back. Customer service would not right their wrong… Totally disappointed.
A word of caution. You cannot see the the replacement frames on your original order, so you have no way of knowing if the customer rep go it right when you spoke to him (her). Ask the person to repeat the details to you in order to make sure he (she) got it right.
Now stuck with a pair of glasses that I will never wear in public, probably use them in the garage as safety glasses. Had I bought my glasses at an optician, I certainly wouldn’t have saved any money, but I wouldn’t have had these hassles either…. Customer service at an optician’s office is usually top notch, totally unlike the service your likely to get from a customer service rep from Eye Buy Direct….
I had a similar issue with getting frames that were a tad too big. I have a really small face and they didn’t really have glasses to suit my face size; however my husbands frames were a perfect fit. Thanks for the good advice!
Just wondering how your tinted lenses worked out for you. I was going to do the same because I dont care for the “sunglasses” frames but love a few that I can add a tint too.
They worked out great – they are perfect for mountain biking. For regular car driving, I should of tinted them more than I did, but it does help.
I just wanted to post a quick note that although I liked the article, I also read reviews on EyeBuyDirect and frankly, a lot of people have TERRIBLE experiences with this company. Reading only a few of the horror stories, convinced me that although the prices may be good, I don’t think I’d want to risk dealing with a bad customer experience (broken lens, twisted frame, etc.) even for the savings. I’ll just save up my pennies and buy from the local optician.
people seem to complain alot when it comes to “omg its not the designer that made this so i gotta complain because its cheap but needs to be worth less than what they are” type thing ive noticed. I plan to buy 3 pairs of glasses, 2 of which are for cosplay, 1 for everyday use since the other glasses i have currently were baught from a donation place a few years ago -the frames were free but the lens costed $60-
it seems like eyebuyglasses might be my best choice especially for how low budget im working with and will have almost no mey once june comes around. Hope no issues arise on my end
You went to a lot of work to accomplish what I did by going to EyeglassUniverse.com. To be honest with you I have heard from some people about the cheap -free glasses on some sites. So I was nosing around the internet and found EyeglassUniverse.com and after spending 10 minutes on their site quickly found a nice frame and some lenses with anti-reflective coating for about $30. They offer complete pairs of glasses for $6.95 and I was tempted but am pleased as punch about my glasses. Check them out. They are based in the Midwest and were great to work with. At the price I paid two years ago I could afford just one pair. This time around I’m already looking for another pair and will be ordering them soon…maybe even two more pairs…that is how much I saved with Eyeglass Universe.
Me too – good luck!
I honestly agree that the best thing to do is to go to your local optician. I had read a lot of bad reviews too and gambled on my order so I wanted to share that it actually went well for me :).
I ordered 2 pairs of glasses for under 40 dollars they came before the 14th day and are perfect
things to remember when selecting your glasses online….all the distances and measurements….arm length ,lens width,bridge gap etc. most of theses measurements can be found on the inside of arm on your glasses..if you do your homework well you can get a great deal on a good fit. I love buying from these guys. haven’t had any shipping problems to Canada..
Who is making all the money in the stores where you pay 500-1000 per pair?