EyeBuyDirect's Buy-One-Get-One Starts Monday!

Posted by Ira at Thursday, July 16, 2009

A lot of you have probably already received the email alerting you to this opportunity.

EyeBuyDirect is having another Buy One Get One sale starting on Monday, July 20th and lasting until the 26th. They're expecting quite an outpouring of love on this -- I think you may even read about this in your newspapers or see something on the local news affiliate.

The people at EyeBuyDirect continue to push the ball forward. I think this has the potential to alert quite a few new people to the concept of online eyeglasses and is therefore a positive for the entire industry.

I'll remind you again on Monday if you'd like to sign up for the feed (see the green area near the top left of the page) or follow me on Twitter at @glassyeyes.

Terms (some are pretty significant):

Sale lasts one week between Monday July 20th and Sunday July 26th (sale starts and ends midnight PST)
Minimum order $14.95
Free eyeglasses- cheaper of the two
Offer not including Designer frames, Sport frames & Sunglasses
Offer includes only single vision lenses with anti-scratch coating
No double discounts- Buy one Get one Free overrides other coupons & discounts

UPDATE! ajeep8u asked a good question in comments, and I got the answer almost immediately via online help. Here goes:

Ira Mitchell: Regarding the Buy One Get One Free sale: If I bought a frame for $49.95 and sprung for the 1.74 lenses plus all the coatings, the total is $173.85. Could I get an identical second pair for free? Or are you saying that only a frame of equal or lesser price plus the Standard lens would be free?

You are now speaking with Juanita of Customer Service.
Juanita: It is only the frame for the 2nd pair which is free. Lens upgrades are additional costs.

Tell your friends!

Related Posts and Links:

EyeBuyDirect

16 comments:

At July 16, 2009 at 8:43 AM ajeep8u said...: Is the B1G1 sale for the frame and lenses or just the frame?
At July 16, 2009 at 8:49 AM Ira said...: @ajeep8u,

Basic lenses are always included.
At July 16, 2009 at 8:58 AM ajeep8u said...: Sorry, your post isn't very clear. If I bought a frame for $49.95 and sprung for the 1.74 lenses plus all the coatings, the total is $173.85. Could I get an identical second pair for free? Or are you saying that only a frame of equal or lesser price plus the Standard lens would be free?
At July 16, 2009 at 9:00 AM Ira said...: @ajeep8u,

It's not my post so much as it is the terms not being clear (they rarely are).

I'll check into this using your example.
At July 16, 2009 at 9:04 AM Ken said...: This "sale" is pretty disappointing. It only applies to the cheapest lenses, and the EyeBuyDirect base lenses are not very good (1.5 index). Their lens upgrades are more expensive than other companies and the upgrades are not included in the sale. If you need thinner lenses (or bifocals or whatever), you are much better off using the 30% discount coupons that you can find on internet coupon web sites like TechBargains.
At July 16, 2009 at 9:20 AM Ira said...: @Ken,

You're right if you're looking for higher-end add-ons. A lot of people only need the basics though and this is a good deal for them.
At July 16, 2009 at 9:26 AM ajeep8u said...: So have we determined exactly what's included in the sale? If high index lenses are out then what about color tinting? I'm with Ken, this sale is shaping up to be much ado about (almost) nothing.
At July 16, 2009 at 9:27 AM Ira said...: @ajeep8u,

Got your answer. Read the post update for details. The short answer is, No, no lens upgrades are included.
At July 16, 2009 at 9:31 AM Ira said...: @ajeep8u,

If you're looking for serious upgrades, you might be able to find a better deal using the percentage off links to the left.

If you're looking for basic glasses, this is still a pretty solid deal. With a sphere hovering around -4, I've been really happy with the standard lenses.
At July 16, 2009 at 9:44 AM Ken said...: I think their display ad is very deceptive. It says "Buy one pair of glasses; get another one for free". Wording like that usually means that the free item may be equal value to the first item.

In this case, the free glasses can only have the cheapest lenses, even if you bought upgraded lenses on the first pair. This deal is only interesting to people who would buy the cheapest lenses anyway.
At July 16, 2009 at 10:08 AM Ira said...: @Ken,

Granted. I think the "fine print" is lacking, but I recall this being the case in the past as well -- for EBD and others.

I hope we cleared this up for those ordering. I still think this can be a great deal for some.
At July 16, 2009 at 10:26 AM ajeep8u said...: I'm mostly with Ken here. EBD should be much more clear how they word the sale - although we're a bit premature here, as the sale has not been officially announced yet.

Something like "Buy any one pair of frames and lenses and get a second pair of frames with standard lenses for free" - with a big disclaimer "does not apply to any lens upgrade, including high-index, progressive or tinted lenses"

Not as sexy as "Buy one get one free", but accuracy and honesty is paramount in this competitive industry.
At July 16, 2009 at 10:41 AM Ken said...: Actually, the sale has been officially announced. I am a past EBD customer and they sent me an e-mail announcement 3 days ago. You can also see their ad on their web site: http://www.eyebuydirect.com/bogof.php

From the ad, can you figure out that only the cheapest lenses are included in the sale? I could not, and I got burned the last time they had this sale.

I don't think your typical consumer protection agency would be very happy with this ad.
At July 16, 2009 at 11:14 AM ajeep8u said...: Yeah but that's only because you're an insider. There is no mention of the sale on their home page. They also say the sale runs from July 20-26 - according to my calendar it's July 16.

Their "Terms and Conditions" clearly need another line:

* Offer includes only single vision, standard lenses with anti-scratch coating - high index, progressive and tinted lenses are not included!
At July 17, 2009 at 12:35 PM Ken said...: Instead of changing the fine print on the sale, I think they should honor the spirit of the sale. Buy-on-get-one-free should really mean FREE. None of this "only the frame is free" nonsense.
At July 17, 2009 at 3:43 PM Anonymous said...: I agree with ajeep8u. Assuming one wants more than one pair of glasses, and assuming one is considering ordering not the cheapest frames and not the most expensive lenses, this can still be a good deal... but EBD isn't going to garner any customer loyalty or goodwill for themselves if people feel misled.