{"id":905,"date":"2010-07-08T10:47:23","date_gmt":"2010-07-08T15:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/?p=905"},"modified":"2010-08-18T14:14:40","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T19:14:40","slug":"how-to-save-on-eyeglasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/how-to-save-on-eyeglasses\/","title":{"rendered":"How to save $$$ on eyeglasses."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cheapy<\/a>When I went to get some new glasses a couple of months ago, I was a bit taken aback by the spendiness of the whole affair. <\/p>\n

The exam wasn’t so bad at a $30 copay, but Ray-Bans<\/a> (or any other decent frames) were over $300. If I wanted progressive lenses (and being a proto geezer, I did) that would be another $300. If I wanted Transition<\/a> lenses, that’s another $100. That comes to over $700 for a new pair of specs! I guess they’re fishing for insurance dough. Though I have decent health insurance, the vision care is pretty minimal. All of this prompted a mission to find cheaper cheaters.<\/p>\n

Step 1. The exam.<\/p>\n

When you get your exam, have the optometrist give you a written prescription. They might not offer it, but they should be happy to give it to you.<\/p>\n

Step 2. Find some frames.<\/p>\n

This is where most people get hung up. The eye wear industry wants you to think this is arcane knowledge. It isn’t. If you have a pair of glasses that you are currently wearing, check the size. Mine say 51-18-145 on the left temple. The 51 is the width of the lens: 51mm. The 18 means the bridge of the nose is 18mm. 145mm is the length of the temple. I’ve found that a millimeter or two doesn’t matter much. I bought my last two pairs of frames on eBay<\/a>. Sights like FramesDirect<\/a> are also good. My current pair (the clear ones in the picture above) were around $30 including shipping. That’s another dirty little secret of the eye wear biz: frames are marked up about 1000%. I met a frame sales rep once who clued me into that.<\/p>\n

Step 3. The lenses.<\/p>\n

When I bought my latest frames on eBay, I got an email from the seller (here’s a link to his eBay store<\/a>) saying that he offered lenses at deep discounts. As usual, I was skeptical and just bought the frames. My plan was to get the lenses made at a local shop. I called LensCrafters and they said progressive lenses were $310. Yikes! No joy there. I emailed the guy who sold me the frames. He could do progressive lenses for $89–I could scan my prescription and send it to him as a jpg. I was still a bit leery but I figured I wouldn’t be out that much dough if things went awry, so I sent the frames back and waited. (I could have gotten the Transitions<\/a> for another $80 or so but I tightened up, instead opting for clip-on shades from Cocoons Eyewear.<\/a> I like them but you have to keep them in a case, keep track of them, etc. I should have popped for the Transitions.) <\/p>\n

In a week or so I had my new specs. I tried them on and was very happy – they looked great and I could see! Also, in some small way I felt like I was sticking it to the Man. Or Woman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I went to get some new glasses a couple of months ago, I was a bit taken aback by the spendiness of the whole affair. The exam wasn’t so bad at a $30 copay, but Ray-Bans (or any other decent frames) were over $300. If I wanted progressive lenses (and being a proto geezer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other-stuff"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to save $$$ on eyeglasses. - Rubright.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rubright.com\/basement\/how-to-save-on-eyeglasses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to save $$$ on eyeglasses. - Rubright.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I went to get some new glasses a couple of months ago, I was a bit taken aback by the spendiness of the whole affair. 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