Up until a year or so ago, I always got my glasses at a traditional brick-and-mortar store. I often put my eye exam off because I didn’t want to spend $200 or more on a pair of glasses!
That was when I realized; why don’t I buy my glasses online?
I go to Amazon for great deals, and buy pretty much everything online – I even order my groceries online!
So why not order my glasses online too?
I started researching and found that I could get glasses online for a fraction of what I spent at a traditional store.
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Why are eyeglasses so expensive?
When you buy glasses from your traditional brick and mortar store, it’s not just the glasses themselves that you’re paying for. You also pay for the cost of running the building and the employees.
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Brick and mortar stores have overheads, so they need to make those back, and they put a portion of that right onto the price of your glasses.
So getting your glasses in a regular store is going to be more expensive than buying them online.
Websites don’t have those overhead costs that offline stores do, so you can get glasses at much lower prices.
That’s not to say that all websites offer glasses at low prices.
There are many websites though that do offer cheap glasses.
And below, I cover my favorites!
Best Places to Buy Cheap Glasses Online
If you want to know where to buy cheap glasses give one of these awesome sites a try!
1. Warby Parker
Warby Parker offers glasses and really affordable prices.
The site has an awesome selection of affordable glasses.
What I like about the company and why it sits above Zenni on this list is because it offers a try-on service and free returns.
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That’s the only caveat for me with buying my glasses online – I can’t try them on first!
That’s why Warby Parker is so good. It lets you try not one but up to five pairs of glasses on at home for free!
You can return your glasses for a full refund within 30 days of receipt or you can exchange them. That’s pretty great.
There are lots of different prescription glasses available, including progressive lenses.
There are lots of customers who praise the site highly on Reddit. In this Reddit thread, one Warby Parker customer says:
- “They look good and are relatively inexpensive…I highly recommend them because of their customer service. I accidentally broke my glasses a couple months in and they sent me a new pair no questions asked. I would’ve gotten a pair from them again if they had the style I wanted.”
Warby Parker has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau too.
Read my Warby Parker Review to learn more about buying glasses from the brand.
2. Zenni Optical
Zenni Optical is another awesome site if you’re looking for cheap glasses.
Its prices are super low – you can get glasses starting at $6.95. There’s a wide selection of lenses available including progressives.
I have an in-depth review of Zenni Optical, which you can read here to learn more about buying glasses from the company.
Lots of people speak highly of Zenni Optical online. On this Reddit thread, this user says:
- “Zenni is fantastic. Wide variety of frames and lens options. You can even opt in to transitions lenses without breaking the bank.”
Zenni Optical is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and it has an A+ rating on the site.
Zenni Optical has 4.5 stars on Trustpilot, which is an “Excellent” rating.
3. EyeBuyDirect
Another place to check for prescription glasses and sunglasses is EyeBuyDirect.
Its glasses are super cheap, starting at just $6!
There are more than1,000 frames available for women and men.
What’s great about EyeBuyDirect is that it offers a risk-free 14-day fitting period, and a 12-month product guarantee replacement policy.
It has a virtual EyeTry feature that allows you to try on any glasses frame online.
There are lots of different lenses available, including progressive lenses, transitions lenses, and Bifocal lenses.
With coupons and sales available too, EyeBuyDirect is an awesome place to find glasses at low prices.
The site has an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot.
Many customers praise EyeBuyDirect highly on Trustpilot, with one saying:
- “Easy and Affordable! The website is so easy to use. I loved my first pair of glasses so much that I turned around and ordered another pair – both for the price of what it would have cost me for one pair at a local retailer.”
4. GlassesUSA
Another place where you can find prescription glasses online at a discount is at GlassesUSA. There’s a 365 day manufacturer’s warranty available, which is great.
You can get men’s and women’s eyeglasses, and sunglasses on there.
It offers sunglasses from well-known brands too, like Ray-Ban and Prada.
The site also has a clearance sale section, so you can save even more money.
GlassesUSA has an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot. It has lots of great reviews from customers, like this one who says:
- “Very easy to order. Large selection of frames. Reasonably priced compared to the big chains and doctor office prices.”
5. Coastal
Coastal offers glasses at great prices. At Coastal you can buy one pair of glasses and get one free. It also claims to guarantee you the lowest price on contact lenses.
You can also get 40% off your first pair of glasses. Plus, there’s free shipping and returns.
Many people praise Coastal highly on Reddit. On this Reddit thread, one user says:
- “I will say that I had an excellent customer service experience with Coastal. I had lost my glasses, ordered some through them & when I found them, I called to cancel and they were not jerks and it was smooth sailing.”
Another user on this Reddit thread says:
- “I’ve been wearing Coastal glasses for 4-5 years now. Been through a few different frames and I’ve liked all of them. I get the optional upgrades–the antiglare/scratch coatings, etc. Last time I went to get an eye exam the person doing the test took my glasses and actually commented on how they were very nice and good on me for getting the coatings. I highly recommend them now and have now converted several of my friends.”
6. DiscountGlasses.com
DiscountGlasses.com offers cheap glasses and free premium lenses. There’s free shipping and returns available as well. You can get men’s, women’s, and kid’s glasses on there at a discount.
The site has many good reviews online, like this one from a customer on Reddit who says:
- “I get my glasses at discountglasses.com they last/don’t break easily and I use Ebates with it. Plus they have a 1 year warranty.”
And on the BBB another customer reviews DiscountGlasses.com well, saying:
- “Extremely happy with my purchase of Transition progressive lenses and a rimless frame from Discountglasses.com. I received the glasses about a week after ordering and the prescription is perfect and the frames a great fit. So happy with the quality and the price was the best deal around.”
7. 39 Dollar Glasses
39 Dollar Glasses offers prescription glasses starting at $39. It offers a “100% worry-free guarantee.”
Its glasses are crafted in the USA. And you can get men’s, women’s and kid’s glasses on the site.
39 Dollar Glasses says you can get high-quality frames and prescription lenses for up to 70% off retail prices from a trusted, doctor-owned and operated company.
Lots of people speak highly of the site, with one customer on SiteJabber saying:
- “Fantastic glasses, love the progressive lenses. I’ve been ordering for over 7 years from 39dollarglasses and I’ve always been happy. The one time I broke the arm on my frame they sent me a new one for free in a few days.”
8. Eyeglasses.com
At Eyeglasses.com you can get designer eyeglass frames and prescription lenses at discounts of up to 60% compared to typical stores. Replacement lenses are available.
You can get eyeglasses and sunglasses there.
What’s great about Eyeglasses.com is that it offers glasses from well-known designer brands, like Prada and Giorgio Armani.
On Trustpilot, Eyeglasses.com has a “Great” rating, with many customers praising the site.
One customer on Trustpilot says:
- “My frames were an exact match and fit. I wasn’t sure if I was going to receive the proper care that I was looking for, but I was wrong. I would use Eyeglasses.com again, for all my eyewear needs.”
9. GlassesShop
GlassesShop offers prescription glasses at low prices. They also offer Buy One Get One free deal for frames.
GlassesShop also has other money saving offers available. For example, new customers can get their first pair of glasses for free.
You can try glasses with the site’s virtual try-on selection. There’s a 14-day return policy and a 90-day warranty.
The site also offers a 100% store credit refund guarantee.
Now, that’s good if you’re looking to buy again from the same site.
But I think that stores should always offer a full refund back to the payment method you used.
So that’s why GlassesShop appears lower on our list.
GlassesShop is well-reviewed online, with one customer saying on Trustpilot:
- “Excellent customer service!!! Answered all my questions and even asked me questions and made sure my prescription was correct before processing my glasses!!!! Very satisfied customer!!!!”
However, I did notice when I was researching GlassesShop that although it was recommended by major news outlets and customers, Trustpilot claimed that it had noticed some fake reviews, saying:
“Our customised software has discovered a large number of fake reviews on this domain and we’ve removed them.”
That’s not to say that customers haven’t had a good experience with the site, or that it doesn’t offer some great prices.
10. Eyeconic
You can get prescription glasses and sunglasses at Eyeconic. It accepts lots of different insurance types, like VSP and MetLife.
According to the site, you can save up to $220 by using your vision insurance. It says your average copay is just $25 – you can use your insurance benefits to save.
Now, Eyeconic was recommended a lot by bloggers and websites online, but I couldn’t really find many reviews from customers on sites like Reddit or Trustpilot.
That’s why Eyeconic appears at the bottom of our list.
Still though, it has a great selection of glasses that are available at affordable prices, so you should definitely give the site a try.
A Few Tips to Save Money when Buying Glasses
Okay, so above, I’ve given you ten websites where you can get glasses at cheap prices.
Sure, just buying your glasses on one of these websites is going to save you money.
But, there are ways that you can pay even less for your glasses!
In this section, I’m going to cover ways that you can get even more of a discount when you purchase glasses online.
Visit coupon websites for great savings
Coupon sites are so awesome for saving money when you shop online.
With a coupon, you can make an already cheap pair of glasses even more affordable.
Lots of coupon websites feature coupons for the glasses stores we mentioned above, like Warby Parker and Zenni.
For example, RetailMeNot has coupons for Warby Parker. At the time of writing, one coupon gave you 50% off your order, and the other one gave you $5 off your purchase.
I’d recommend taking a look at these sites for glasses coupons:
Use browser-extensions to save money automatically
Sure, coupon websites are great. And I’d highly recommend that you use them.
But, if you don’t mind adding a browser extension to Chrome or whatever browser you use, then you might want to give Honey or Wikibuy a try.
These browser extensions will search the internet for coupons and automatically apply the best one to your order.
This can be a real time-saver. Not only do you not have to search multiple coupon websites yourself, but you also get coupon codes that work.
While I think coupons are great, many of them simply don’t work. You try like six codes and none of them are valid, so that can be annoying.
This is why you might want to try a browser extension like Wikibuy or Honey instead.
They’ll save you time and money!
Join rewards sites and get free cash to spend on glasses
Discounts are great, but free cash to spend is even better!
That’s why I’d highly recommend joining rewards websites.
These websites will pay you to do easy tasks, like:
- Shopping online
- Completing offers
- Browsing the internet
- Playing games
- Taking surveys
- Watching TV
Now, some sites will give you points that you can redeem for money and others will just give you money from the outset.
Payment options vary from site to site, but rewards sites most commonly pay you by PayPal, with some also paying by check, prepaid debit card, or direct deposit.
Check out these rewards websites:
You can then use the money you make from these sites to get free money to spend on glasses. If you get $10 to your PayPal account, you can use that to get your glasses for $10 cheaper. In the case of Zenni, whose glasses start at just $6.95, you could actually get your glasses for free with your rewards website earnings!
Shop through cashback websites
Another really easy way to save money on glasses is to use cashback websites.
Cashback websites give you a percentage of what you spend back. It could be as little as 1% cashback or as much as 70% cashback – or even more in some cases.
This is such a good way to get glasses at an even lower price.
Lots of cashback websites feature online glasses retailers, like Warby Parker and Zenni Optical.
Here are some good cashback websites:
- TopCashBack
- Ibotta (It’s not just for in-store rebates. It also features cashback for online shopping)
- Rakuten
- RetailMeNot
There are not as many cashback sites offering savings for glasses websites as there are coupon websites.
But it’s still worth checking the cashback sites above to see if there’s a cashback offer available for the store you plan to shop with.
Use prescription discount apps & sites
If you’re shopping for prescription eyeglasses, make sure you install a few of the free prescription discount apps.
Some of the best ones include GoodRx and OneRx.
Some of these apps can save you up to 95% on eyewear as well as medications.
There are also prescription discount cards like RxSaver and SingleCare that can save you big on prescriptions. Be sure to take advantage of them. We have a post with a list of over 25 best prescription discount cards that you can read here.
So Buy Your Glasses Online!
I really think that buying your glasses online is the way to go. It really is so much cheaper!
If you’re sick of paying $100s for your glasses, buy them online instead.
Of course, there are caveats to buying your glasses online – most places don’t have a home-try-on program.
But many of these sites have free returns anyway. So you can easily exchange your glasses for another pair. In the case of Warby Parker, you can try on your glasses at home!
Give the above sites a try. Let us know in the comments below where you buy cheap glasses.
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