Most opticians will, by default, put the Optical Centre at the geometric centre of the lens. HOWEVER, despite my relatively weak RX (-2.00 and -1.75 with small astigmatism in both eyes), I prefer to have the OC a couple of millimetres above the geometric centre. Do you know if most online stores you can specify what OC you want (given knowing the height in millimetres of the lenses in the frames you want are?). Years ago when my RX was stronger, I got a prism effect from having the OC too low in the frame because glasses tend to sit lower on my face. So I like to stick with an OC slightly higher.

Re: Zenni - ordered a bi-focal set a month ago - there were mistakes in the form (my fault) & they emailed me to double check. Glasses are great equivalent of a $250 after insurance payment that I looked at the day before. Decided to get some computer glasses - single vision but at my reading glass perscription. Sent an email asking how to order and the respond (by email) quickly and said call them. Called and was put on hold for 2.7 hours - yep, almost three hours. Their machine said there were four people ahead of me and it was on their nickle so I figured it would be fun. Went to the post office, made dinner, etc. At 2.7 hours their machine disconnected me. Sent email, they respond quickly (next day) and we got it under control. Lesson learned: don't call.

I'm going to begin the quest for new glasses. Thanks for the tips and I will let you know how it works out. Really appreciate all the work you put into this.
Diane
Belmont, MA

Hello, I found this site through Lifehacker and 43 Folders. It sounds just like what I've been looking for since I don't have an up to date pair of glasses and my contacts are starting to show signs of aging.

Does anyone have any tips for the first timer? I called my local Costco and Walmart and it seems like exams cost about $55 and from reading the site I know to ask for my pupillary distance. My plan was to go get my exam, shop around for frames and write down the measurements then find something comparable on one of the sites on the sidebar here.

Thanks again for making a good source of information, I've been wondering if I should get glasses online for a long time.

I am an optician, but I completely agree with all of you. My good friend and I opened our own optical store about a year ago for the exact reasons you all are stating. I was literally embarassed to price out glasses for people at some offices I worked at. When people would ask why it cost so much, I really wouldn't know what to say. We are less than half the price of most doctors offices, while still giving people great service. You guys keep up the good work.

I ordered 2 pair of glasses from Zenni optical. I could wear them because the rx on the lenses was WRONG later confirmed by a local optician. I will never buy from Zenni . If they actually have opticians working there the state should take their licenses away

hi
i've spent hours trying to find trifocals (w/ lines) on line. Zenni said they don't do it. EyeBuyDirect said they don't do it. Nothing at 39 Dollar Glasses say they do trifocals. i've emailed them. i did find Eye Glass Liquidators. They do them. Anyone know if they are an ok place to biz? thanks for help! lisa

I ordered a pair of glasses from Zenni Optical In July 2007 and really like them. I need higher index lenses as well as progressive bi-focals. I ordered the UV protection and scratch coating. Also, I got the lenses which darken in sun. The frames are perfect. They are the memory titanium. Cost...$98.

The only complaint I have is that the lenses will no return to clear when out of the sun. They stay a light yellow color. Zenni says that is because of "oxygenation" and all lenses do it. That can't be true as I have never had it happen before.

As noted, I wear thick glasses because of my severe near-sightedness. Zeiss has a super high index lens which makes even extreme prescriptions thin lenses. We in the good old USA can't get them because the FDA doesn't like the shatter tests. I guess we are too dumb to know what we want. You can get the lenses in Canada and I did buy a pair while I was in Windsor. The cost was nearly $1,000 Anyway, I am writing my government to complain about two things:

1. We want the Ziess lenses here and the safety issue is one I will decide on...not some government twit.

2. Is there price collusion in the eyeglass industry. With nearly 100 million Americans buying eyeglasses every couple of years, why does it cost more than twice that of a full featured computer with CPU, flat screen monitor, optical mouse, speakers, keyboard and software?

Hi I love your site and the whole concept. Do you have RSS set up? I looked but didn't see anything to subscribe with.

Amsoilguru

The feed can be found here:

http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Thanks to this great site, I have my first pair of new glasses in five years. I got my new prescription, went online to 39dollarglasses, picked out the frames, figured out how to get my prescription in (I didn't call for help because I wanted to see if it worked intuitively). That was last Thursday, late. Today I received my new progressive-lens glasses. They fit, look good, and best of all, I can see out of them. Even got the 10% discount because I went through your link. I'm thrilled, and I'll be telling all my glasses-cursed friends about you and the stores you link to. Thanks!

I'm absolutely new at this. I got a prescription from my doc, but the numbers are out of range from those you select from on the web order forms. For example, for my right eye my mumbers are Sphere -50, Cylinder +75, Axis 140, and ADD +250. Other than the axis number, these are all well out of range of the "pop ups" on the order form. Any Suggestions why this might be?

@Anonymous (I could've emailed you directly if you'd registered),

Eyedocs tend to drop the periods from these -- it's a very common and annoying practice (and one that I'm sure exists to make all of this seem so much more mysterious than it is). -50 is actually -0.50. +75 is +0.75. ADD is +2.50.

Good luck!

I just received my glasses from Zenni Optical: 4103 Full-Rim Stainless Steel Light Weight http://zennioptical.com/cart/product...&cat=20&page=1, 10 days after I ordered them. I bought $8 glasses with the clip on sun shade; the total with shipping was $16.90. I had a full prescription with PD so I didn't have to measure anything myself.

My lenses are very thin. At first I thought that they forgot the lenses as they were wrapped in cloth with the sun shades on top and the glasses were so light when I took them out of the case. I love my new glasses!

Other measurements?

When I have been measured for eyeglasses, I was aware that PD was being taken. However, are there not other measurements that need to be taken into account? IT seems that when fitting for a frame, the technician measured the distance from my eye? Is this wrong?

ALso, measuring for progressive trifocals involved more measurements. Can we do some of this ourselves, without the frames?

How can I deal with this?

Thank you for this site. If I can order online, I will pay less than 20% of what I am now paying. I reused my old frames the last time around. Trying, now, to check all parameters.

I'm looking for a place that carries the specialty glasses / goggles for motorcycle riding such as the Wiley-X line or an equivalent; these have a face seal to them which keeps wind & dust from getting in around the lenses.

Any information, recommendations, etc. will be quite welcomed!

I recently had my eyes checked, bought glasses and contacts at a very high price. Why should this PD measurement be such a secret? I paid for the service and this info should be inclusive. They're not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. After all, I walked out with my prescription.

Do not buy from 39DollarGlasses.com. My frames broke within the 6 month warranty and I still have not received the replacement frames after 3 weeks. You will get your glasses on time but if you have a problem GOOD LUCK because they don't want to hear it. BEWARE the frames are second rate at best.

I found a link to your site yesterday & ordered two pair from Zenni (one as a back up to my expensive new pair & one as a pair of sunglasses - I've never had prescription sunglasses before).

All in all, I went with their cheapest frame options & spent $35.80 including shipping. I'm hopeful that I did a good job w/ the PD measurement & am just waiting to see what I get.

If these turn out well, I will probably never buy a pair from an optician again.

Thanks so much!

I've been buying from 39DollarGlasses for the last year; 2 regular pairs, 1 pair prescription sunglasses. I've recommended them to 5 other people as well, no problems all around.

I noticed that my first pair (Amalfi) gets scratched easier than some of the $300 pairs I've had to buy in the past but for $40 I can deal with that. ^_^

I was very hesitant to order glasses online until I found your website and decided to order some from EyeBuyDirect with the 15% savings. I am very pleased with the quality and speediness of my order. I ordered progressive bifocals with transition lenses that would have cost at least $300 elsewhere, but mine only cost $108 and that was with shipping. Thanks for all the tips. I am telling all my friends to check out your blog.

I ordered from goggles4U in January, 2009. The glasses arrived but are made correctly. The optometrist says that both lenses are blocked for the right eye, so the PD is 77 not 61 as ordered. I have sent emails to goggles4U and faxed them. No response. Should I just give up and start the unhappy consumer dance with BBB and this blog? Any help or advice?

@anon,

Please forward me your order number and contact info at GlassyEyes [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll get it sent to the right people to get it worked out.

- ira

This sounds to be a very useful website to get good eyeglasses. I have a question regarding the frame that I already have. I bought a metal frame ordinary sunglasses at Kohls for 25 $ or so. Can I use that frame to have prescription sunglasses fitted in them. Do they last longer? If any of you have used your old regular frames to have prescription lenses fitted in, could you suggest me if I should go for it or not?

Helpful site and support!

Re PD: The optometrist measured mine at 64, by machine I think, and told me that my current progressive lenses have individual PDs of Right=30.5 and Left=32.0. I assume the individual ones are more important the the overall, but shouldn't the two add up to 64?

Bought a pair of glasses from 39dollarglasses.com with progressive lenses. When I got them, I found that I couldn't see out of them very well. Went to local Sam's Club, and the optician checked them. Said they sat too high on my nose. I sent the glasses back. They say they'll only refund minus 30% restocking fee, even though there was no mention of vertical measurements on their site that I can recall. After an online chat, I found that they say there is no need for vertical measurements. Sending them back to see what they say officially.

Bought a pair of glasses from 39dollarglasses.com with progressive lenses. I Took them to an optician at Sam's Club, as I couldn't see out of them very well. The optician said that the glasses sat too high on my nose. 39dollarglasses say that there is no need to take vertical measurements and that the best I can hope for is 70% refund. I'm sending them back to see what their offical verdict is.

Does anyone know if you can get a -11.00 prescription from Eyebuydirect.com ?

You can only select up to a - 10.00 or + 10.00.

Could not contact them by phone or "Live Chat" .

Thanks

I am looking for executive trifocals (lines go all the way across the lens) but none of your top four pics make them. Any suggestions? I tried trifocal progressives was wasn't that happy.

@anon,

I know of no one who does tri-focals online. I looked for my father-in-law a couple of years ago unsuccessfully.

I bought a pair of rimless glasses from Zenni. They're thicker than the rimless ones that I have now. Next time I think I'll opt to pay extra for the 1.67 High Index lens.

Has anyone ever ordered these types of lens from Zenni before and would they be worth the extra cost of $37? Are they thinner than the 1.57?

I got my new glasses at Google4u in late May/early June and the prescription was correct. It's been a couple months & the frames are holding up great!
Since this worked so well I'm planning on getting some more frames online by Christmas as spares & for different looks. At these web prices I can actually have fun with my frames!