![]() Online sellers not only tend to offer very low prices, but they also carry a much wider selection of frames.Īn obvious disadvantage of buying eyeglasses online is that, unless you’re replacing frames you like with an identical model, you usually can’t try on various frames to see how they’ll look on your face. For eyeglasses, prices at almost all the online retailers were substantially lower than at surveyed stores - several sites offered prices that were less than half of those offered by local stores. Checkbook shopped for glasses and contacts at a sample of internet stores. You can save a lot by buying from some - but not all - online-only retailers. Among vision centers, Checkbook found that Costco, along with a few independents, offered the lowest prices for contacts. For example, for a one-year supply of Biotrue ONEday daily disposable contact lenses (plus exam and fitting), prices ranged from $564 to $962. The best news: You don’t have to pay more to get great advice and service: Checkbook’s shoppers often found low prices at the highest-rated stores.Ĭheckbook researchers also collected prices for six brands and models of contact lenses and found even larger store-to-store differences in prices and fees. For example, for a pair of Ray-Ban RB5228 frames, prices at surveyed stores ranged from $198 to $508. It still offers the try-on options for online orders, but the company has opened more than 130 brick-and-mortar stores in the United States and Canada, including several in the Philadelphia region.Ĭheckbook’s undercover shoppers collected prices for 18 models of eyeglasses (with single-correction lenses) and found that some Delaware Valley outlets charge twice as much as others. Though the name “Luxottica” doesn’t show up on their signs, when you head into LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Target’s optical department, Sunglass Hut and many more outlets, you’re shopping in a space or store the behemoth company owns or controls. Luxottica not only manufactures millions of pairs of glasses annually it also markets and sells them in more than 7,000 retail stores it runs. But much of this variety is an illusion: The lion’s share of eyeglasses on the market - including those sold under popular designer brand names - come from just a few Italian companies with names you probably won’t recognize: Luxottica, Marcolin, Safilo. ![]() When shopping for new eyeglasses, you can easily feel overwhelmed by the endless racks of styles and brands. » READ MORE: How to wear a mask and not fog up your glasses 5, Inquirer readers have free access to Checkbook’s ratings of local optical shops for quality and price at /Inquirer/Eyewear. In general, chains and franchise operations were rated lower than independent firms, but there was variation among each outlet type. And our undercover shopping research indicates that many stores have prices that are way too high.ĭozens of stores received “superior” ratings for overall service quality by at least 80% of surveyed customers, while others got such favorable ratings from fewer than 50%. The survey of thousands of local consumers by the nonprofit Delaware Valley Consumers’ Checkbook found that many vision centers get very low scores for the advice their staff offers, promptness and other issues. New contact lenses are more comfortable, and disposables require no maintenance.ĭespite these innovations, shopping for specs and contacts can be a major hassle. There have been design evolutions: Today’s glasses are lighter and available in more styles than ever. Constantly changing fashions means a constantly changing selection at eyewear outlets.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |