Need new glasses.

While looking for new frames a few months ago, I came across some websites where you can order just the frames or the glasses including prescription lenses. Price varies according to the type and quality of lenses you choose. Some sites are:
framesdirect.com (US based)
visiondirect.com.au (Australian)
I saw lots of nice frames for economical prices.
Please note that if you buy from the US site you can’t claim with your health insurance.
I was looking for small sized frames that I liked and had more luck via these websites than in visiting stores. However, I had the lenses fitted in a local OPSM store.

Hey Beauties,

A few weeks back while having a shower john had left our bedroom door open and dusty got into the room and grabbed my glasses. So for about 10min dusty had been chewing on my glasses. John had thought he was chewing on a bone.

So now I can see bite marks all over my glasses.

Now i don’t have $500 to get new ones and I don’t have health insurance (even then I may need to wait 3-6 months to calm)

Now some people have been saying to go into Spec savers. But there is nothing I like and I won’t be wearing something I’m not 100% happy in.

What i want is my Ray Bans back.
Why not use the same frames? Well they also have bite marks all in them.

Let’s just say they have pretty much had it.

So I was just goggling Ray bans and came across this site.

http://www.selectspecs.com

I was just wondering if people have brought prescription glasses online?

I have called opsm and they are sending me all my details.

My Ray Bans will cost $119.01
I’m not yet 100% sure what my frames will cost as I don’t have the prescription yet.

I was planning about at check out with the numbers and I went to mid-range with prescription lenses and some are free.

Shipping is $10.

So I’m thinking no less than $129.01 and no more then maybe $200

I’m just wondering why it’s so cheap??

If anyone has done this online or know why it’s so cheap please let me know 🙂

P.S Its in American dollars so even better

XXXX

There are a lot of fakes out there so you would want to check the serial number.
I just got some cheap frames from Thailand when I was there -they look like raybands and then got my optometrist to put the lenses in – cost $100

Paris MIki often has great deals on lenses – particularly for those who use high-index lenses!

Hi MML, livingsocial is having a deal on Occhio Eyewear (QV Building & Fitzroy) ~ $69 for $475 Towards Designer Glasses with Single Vision Lenses.

I have not got them yet still waiting to get my prescription from opsm. I’m hoping to get it today. I have seen many mixed reviews. I need to find the website the guy from work goes through his had no dramas for years. I’ll read the link now 🙂

Read this MissMacLover, it covers most things you need to know about shopping for prescription glasses online. Basically all glasses stores in Australia are owned by the one multi-national organisation: Luxottica. But you can purchase online for a lot cheaper.
Read this, and it has reputable websites to purchase of too in the post. :
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/27669

I have just got new glasses from spec saver myself so the whole process is fresh in my mind. Just a few heads up:

The two pairs for $200 are only if you have health insurance and only if you choose frames that are marked $199 or less. Most of the alex perry ones are more than that. So the $200 you pay is after rebates from our health insurance. It is also only if you have a low prescription and can get away witht the standard lenses. I have a fairly high prescription (-6.0) so couldn’t get the standard lenses as they would end up being too thick to fit into any of the frames. I had to get my lenses indexed so that they could be made a lot thinner. That meant the original quote for the 2 pairs for $200 was actually going to be $470 out of pocket for me. And that was with frames in the $199 range so if i liked more expensive frames it would cost even more, and that was also after I my health fund had covered $200.

Pretty much, if you get specs from spec saver (or anywhere else in Aus) without health insurance you will be looking at around $300+ I’d say, depending on the cost of the frames.

Since my eyesite is so bad I’d be too scared to trust buying glasses online unless I was absolutely certain they were legit as I cannot see without them.

What my friend used to do is buy frames online from places like ebay (she loved the super expensive designer frames so it was a good way to get them cheap) then take them to an optomertrist to proper lenses put in. I would say that would be your best bet – try and get teh frames as cheap as possible but dont skimp on the lenses.

I guess it comes down to how bad is your eyesite – the worse it is, the less you should risk buying online…though in saying that, if it is just around -1.0 or -2.0 it might be ok – you can buy glasses with that presecription from chemists without even having to see an optomotrist fro around $15 so it is possible to make them cheap.

One last point and I will stop my ramble!! The point above made by RetroD11 about getting your glasses adjusted is also a really good one. The new glass i just got from spec saver were made to my prescription but then when i wore them i felt really dizzy and had no peripheral vision out my left eye. Turns out my ears are slightly lopsided so my glasses werent sitting on my face straight so i was looking through the left lense at the wrong angle. They adjusted it somehow and they are now perfect. So, if ou get your glasses back but cant see out of them it might simply be an adjustment issue but then if no one will adjust them for you it might make them useless.

Hope this helps and sorry for the really long ramble! I feel your pain – I had a perfectly good pair of glasses that got detstroyed by Isaac – each time he would chuck a tanty he’d ripp them off my face and chuck them on the ground so they became so scratched i couldnt see out of them (when he is being good though and I have taken my glasses off in the bathroom to look in the mirror, he will pick them up and hand them back to me because he knows i need them!)

I should get my results in the mail today. I bet you john will just turn around and say lets just go to opsm now lol

I have just got new glasses from spec saver myself so the whole process is fresh in my mind. Just a few heads up:

The two pairs for $200 are only if you have health insurance and only if you choose frames that are marked $199 or less. Most of the alex perry ones are more than that. So the $200 you pay is after rebates from our health insurance. It is also only if you have a low prescription and can get away witht the standard lenses. I have a fairly high prescription (-6.0) so couldn’t get the standard lenses as they would end up being too thick to fit into any of the frames. I had to get my lenses indexed so that they could be made a lot thinner. That meant the original quote for the 2 pairs for $200 was actually going to be $470 out of pocket for me. And that was with frames in the $199 range so if i liked more expensive frames it would cost even more, and that was also after I my health fund had covered $200.

Pretty much, if you get specs from spec saver (or anywhere else in Aus) without health insurance you will be looking at around $300+ I’d say, depending on the cost of the frames.

Since my eyesite is so bad I’d be too scared to trust buying glasses online unless I was absolutely certain they were legit as I cannot see without them.

What my friend used to do is buy frames online from places like ebay (she loved the super expensive designer frames so it was a good way to get them cheap) then take them to an optomertrist to proper lenses put in. I would say that would be your best bet – try and get teh frames as cheap as possible but dont skimp on the lenses.

I guess it comes down to how bad is your eyesite – the worse it is, the less you should risk buying online…though in saying that, if it is just around -1.0 or -2.0 it might be ok – you can buy glasses with that presecription from chemists without even having to see an optomotrist fro around $15 so it is possible to make them cheap.

One last point and I will stop my ramble!! The point above made by RetroD11 about getting your glasses adjusted is also a really good one. The new glass i just got from spec saver were made to my prescription but then when i wore them i felt really dizzy and had no peripheral vision out my left eye. Turns out my ears are slightly lopsided so my glasses werent sitting on my face straight so i was looking through the left lense at the wrong angle. They adjusted it somehow and they are now perfect. So, if ou get your glasses back but cant see out of them it might simply be an adjustment issue but then if no one will adjust them for you it might make them useless.

Hope this helps and sorry for the really long ramble! I feel your pain – I had a perfectly good pair of glasses that got detstroyed by Isaac – each time he would chuck a tanty he’d ripp them off my face and chuck them on the ground so they became so scratched i couldnt see out of them (when he is being good though and I have taken my glasses off in the bathroom to look in the mirror, he will pick them up and hand them back to me because he knows i need them!)

I was in Singapore during the holidays & got these specs made up – for AU$45! They’ve got these mock-leather sides which I love.

The lenses are high index & multicoated, and it’s all legit & not dodgy (I’m from there, so I know).

It wasn’t like some backwater dingy operation – the shop stocked a bunch of trendy frames, including brand names like Ray Bans, Esprit & Gucci (yes, the real deal, not fakes). The brand names aren’t super cheap, but are priced a lot better than in Australia. Plus, you can get the lenses done cheap, and the quality’s the same as far as I know.

The owner of the shop told me that so many Aussies come to his shop to get their specs done, and he can’t figure out why the price difference is so vast, because the lenses come from the same manufacturer. He keeps his cost down by setting up his shop off the commercial strip (where the rental’s crazy), and he doesn’t hire any staff.

Whenever I’m in Singapore, I stock up on my optical needs, like contacts, cos for some reason, they’re way cheaper.

Sorry if this doesn’t really help, but I thought it might come in handy the next time someone you know is travelling there.

I was taliking to the guy at work and we always talk about how we buy online mind you he is like 50 and always goes overseas for shopping and just went to china to check out ideas for his reno.

He just came out of the blue and was talking baout how he gets his kids 5 of them and him glasees from online. He said he has had no trouble at all. But still iffy just need to wait i dont mind blowing $200 and then if they are bad go back to opsm get them to take out the lenses and put new ones in.

The guy from opsm said once I have them to go down and he will check them for me 🙂