There are many factors that go into your bad vision. Could be your genetics, what you do on daily basis, or just a simple age factor because eyes deteriorate with time. Something that comes to mind right away is the cost of getting glasses. What changes the cost dramatically is where you buy them. Many students are turning towards wearing glasses during their college career.

The cost of getting eyeglasses really varies and with all of the check-ups, appointments, and then getting the glasses that will run you some serious money from around $300 – to even upwards of $1,000.

Firstly, let’s talk about what you need in order to buy glasses online.

1. You’ll Need Your Eyeglasses Prescription

If you still have your old prescription and you are happy with the results you are getting with those glasses, then feel free to use that prescription for a pair of glasses purchase. If you started to have effects like not being able to see objects you used to be able to see before in glasses or your eyes get irritated much more often, it might be the time to schedule appointment with your optometrist for an eye exam in order to get the kind of glasses that will suit you. General eye exams are usually covered by your insurance

One thing to remember that under FTC rules, eye care providers must provide eyeglasses prescription copies at your request. Also know that lens prescription is different from eye glasses prescription.

There are some things you should know when ordering glasses online to make the process easier:

  • OS (Oculus Sinister): your left eye
  • OD (Oculus Dexter): your right eye
  • Add: for bifocals
  • The Sph or Spherical correction: how near (-) or far (+) sighted you are. If you have ‘PL’, that means you are at zero.

2. Pupillary Distance (Easy way to measure)

Pupillary Distance is the distance between your pupils measured in millimeters. Pupillary distance usually falls between 55 and 69 mm. At your eye exam, optometrists will usually measure it, but if they don’t – you can measure it yourself with just a ruler and and a mirror.

Secret: Optometrists most likely will not write this number on your prescription because they know this gives you ability to shop online. Just ask your optometrist to measure and write this number in.

Here are simple steps below if you need to measure your Pupillary Distance. (Credit to Zenni Optical)

How to Measure Your Pupillary Distance (PD) Infographic | Zenni Optical

3. Be Cautious of Add-Ons

Be very careful when choosing the “add-ons”. As you have hopefully already learned, pretty much every company make up a lot from charging customers for add-ons. Buying glasses online also something you need to be aware of because they are able to charge you for things like anti-scratch, anti-reflective coating, and poly-carbonate lenses, and more…

Best thing you can do for yourself is to first figure out what exactly you need in your eye glasses and then browse around to find what price range you are looking at.

4. Shopping Around for Glasses Online? Best Deal?

If you’re a brand person, be prepared to pay way more for the glasses but trust me and only if you trust yourself with items as fragile as those glasses, you really need to make sure that you are not the person that tend to drop, lose, or break things that you carry. Also be aware that if you really liked those glasses your optometrist had in the office, believe me – you will find a way better deal than what you would pay at that office.

There are retailers I wanted to recommend to you if you need glasses or just to compare the prices between each, some of them actually offer some type of discounts:

Bottom Line

Wherever you decide to buy glasses, make sure that they come with some type of warranty. This usually means that the company behind them is trustworthy. I have had so many cases with warranties that really saved me thousands of dollars and that doesn’t just apply to glasses but everything you buy.

Remember buying glasses from your optometrists office will cost you much more but doing some research yourself and buying them online from trustworthy seller can save you a lot of money.

Quick Question?

I am interested in your optometrists office experience, did they measure your pupillary distance and wrote it down?

Related Posts

Get Free Money by Opening Account with the Best Micro Investing App

2018 Best Laptops For College Students

Is it Time to Upgrade Your Phone?

13 Things I learned and You Should Know When You Turn 18

Want Perfect Scores on Tests? Here are the Top Study Hack for Students

1 Comments