How To Buy Prescription Glasses
If you already own a pair of glasses that fit you well, check the measurements written on the inside arm of the frame. In some cases, the numbers will be printed on or just behind the nose bridge. The numbers represent the following measurements:
It is important to match the size and shape of your eyeglasses to the proportions of your face. The resulting overall look should be balanced. Smaller frames suit a person with a less pronounced facial structure. You need a large and wide facial shape to pull of eyeglasses with big frames.
After additional testing, including ordering glasses with single-vision and photochromic prescription lenses, we still think Eyebuydirect and Zenni Optical are the best online glasses retailers for most people.
Depending on your needs and preferences, you can save hundreds of dollars by buying prescription eyeglasses online instead of through an optician. After performing more than 120 hours of research over four years, talking to eight eye-care professionals, and testing dozens of comparable frame-and-lens pairings from 12 retailers since 2017, we recommend that you start your online glasses search at Eyebuydirect. It offers an extensive, easy-to-search selection of quality frames, multiple lens and coating options, and affordable prices when compared with the prominent competition.
To make the strongest possible direct comparisons across brands, we had each tester choose near-identical frames and lenses from each retailer. Of course, there were some slight differences in styles based on the options each retailer offered at the time of our testing. For example, some of the wire-framed glasses that Tester 1 ordered were a slightly different shape than others. The anti-glare and hydrophobic coatings we ordered differed slightly from pair to pair, depending upon retailer offerings and costs.
When we ordered my glasses (metal-and-plastic frames filled with comparatively stronger Rx lenses), we found that two retailers, Eyebuydirect and GlassesUSA, required that we order more-expensive lenses based on the prescription (costing an extra $79 and $70, respectively). Firmoo and Zenni allowed us to order basic lenses, with the option to upgrade.
Wondering what happens to returned spectacles? We asked each of the retailers we tested what they did with unwanted prescription glasses. Liingo said it reuses returned frames for its in-home try-on services, as well as donates glasses to various organizations. Eyebuydirect, Firmoo, GlassesUSA, and Warby Parker all said they partner with charities to distribute glasses to those in need. Zenni donates them to Lions Clubs International.
Orders over $119 ship for free (orders costing less incur a $6 shipping charge). Eyebuydirect says glasses can take one to two weeks to produce and mail, but all of our test pairs arrived within seven days of ordering, save for the more-complicated progressives, which arrived within the promised two weeks.
Eyebuydirect offers two-day delivery on single-vision prescription glasses in more than 300 frame options, for an additional fee of $19 (though you can usually pay less with a coupon code). We tried this service and were pleasantly surprised to receive our order within 33 hours of placing it.
In 2020, we ordered the exact same glasses that we ordered in 2019 to evaluate consistency. We were pleasantly surprised to note that not only was the prescription perfect, but the glasses were also slightly less expensive the second time around, thanks to the recent uptick in Zenni coupon codes.
Likewise, if the temple arms are too long for you, the glasses can slip forward and off your face or dig in behind your ears, an issue that can sometimes be mitigated with an in-person fitting with a professional (for which Liingo, one of our picks, offers a $25 credit; Eyeconic offers this service for free).
Lensabl says it can put Rx lenses in any frames for these flat rates. To test this claim, I bought an $8 pair of foldable reading glasses (cur