Buy My Glasses Online WORK

The exact way you order glasses online depends on the website you use. The basic idea is first to choose the frame and color you'd like. Then choose features, such as the type of lenses. Some lenses are extra durable, which is good for people in certain jobs or who play sports. You can also order lenses with special coatings. Some are designed to protect your eyes from the harmful rays of the sun.

buy my glasses online

To make sure your glasses suit you, some companies let you upload a picture of yourself so you can see how the glasses will look on your face. Some give tips to help you choose the best frame for your needs and the shape of your face.

Whether you get glasses from a local shop or the Internet, you need a current prescription. You can get one from an ophthalmologist (a medical doctor who specializes in eye and vision care) or an optometrist (a healthcare professional with a degree in optometry). Some websites even let you take an eye test and get your prescription online, but this should not replace your normal checkup with an eye doctor.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is a large organization for eye doctors. It says going online for an eye test and prescription may be OK for people 18 to 39 who don't have any signs of eye disease. But an online test can't check eye health. An online prescription should not replace your annual eye health exam. The AAO doesn't recommend online tests if:

Another test panelist for our glasses guide, strategy editor Ganda Suthivarakom, also had this problem with the glasses she ordered from Jins and from Warby Parker (neither of which provides a way for you to indicate where your vertical center of vision is). In her case, the issue was exacerbated by her low nose bridge, which causes glasses to sit lower on her face, and a fairly strong prescription (about -7 on both sides). She took her glasses to an optician, who again found that the vision in both lenses was centered in the middle, well below her line of sight.

Choose your lens type from options like single vision, bifocal, and progressive no-line lenses. Each lens type has its own benefits and some may be better suited for your prescription and lifestyle than others. Most nearsighted and farsighted people need single-vision lenses, which have only one corrective power and are also commonly used for reading glasses. While multifocal lenses have two or more different corrective powers, which can help you see better at different distances. Learn more about bifocals and progressive lenses in this video:

To order glasses online, you will need to know the measurement of your pupillary distance. This is the distance between your pupils and allows you to buy glasses wherein your eyes are centered in the frames. In most cases, pupillary distance alone will denote whether glasses with standard temple lengths will work, or if you need to look into extended sizing. Other important information to have when ordering glasses online is an up-to-date prescription and any vision insurance information.

No, you will need pupillary distance to accurately order glasses online. In most cases, pupillary distance is measured when your prescription is taken at the optometrist's office. If it doesn't appear on your paper prescription, measuring pupillary distance at home is relatively easy. Once you have this important measurement, you can find the perfect pair of frames.

Yes! With an accurate prescription and pupillary distance, a pair of prescription glasses ordered online are the same as glasses you'd buy in a store. Our trained opticians will confirm your prescription before your glasses are made to ensure accuracy.

Yes! Every pair of glasses purchased online at FramesDirect.com come with our guarantee of satisfaction and a perfect fit. Our team of certified opticians reviews every prescription and ensures that the glasses are correct from when you order them to the moment you open the box to slip them on.

Yes! If you have the correct prescription information, progressive lenses bought online are as reliable as progressives bought in a store. Confirm with your optometrist that progressive lenses are the right fit for you and then depend on FramesDirect.com to craft the perfect pair of glasses.

For online orders, we do not accept vision insurance as payment for orders. We provide a receipt which can be submitted to your insurance company as an Out-of-Network purchase. Make sure you consult with your insurance provider before you place your order to determine whether they reimburse or have limits for out-of-network purchases.

It really depends on what you're looking for in terms of frame style and pricing. Every store on this list is a good place to shop for glasses online, but the types of frames vary by store, with some stores offering more premium frames, which tend to cost more. Lens quality also can vary, and some stores offer faster delivery.

Stores like Zenni Optical and EyeBuyDirect advertise offers for cheap prescription glasses (that includes frames and lenses) for $6.95 or even slightly less. While that's slightly deceptive only because the price doesn't include tax and shipping and you really should add an anti-glare coating to the lens for about $4 extra, I have put together a usable pair of glasses for around $17 shipped.

You'll need to know your prescription and pupillary distance from your optometrist before you use an online glasses retailer -- so make sure you get a hard copy the next time you get your vision checked. Be aware that sometimes optometrists won't give your pupillary distance because they'll say they want to measure you for a specific set of glasses. But insist on getting one. You can also measure PD yourself using an app on your smartphone or download a PD ruler that most online stores have available for download with instructions on how to use it. Pupillary distance is key because when lenses are made it's important to know where your eye is in relation to the center of the lens.

You can also pick up a device like the $99 EyeQue Vision Check to use your smartphone to check your vision and create a prescription that many online glasses stores will accept (some do require an Rx from an optometrist).

You can often get glasses with basic frames and lenses for less than $100 and sometimes even less than $50 during certain promotions. (I once bought a pair of prescription glasses for $9 that I can't say were all that good, but I've kept them in my car as an emergency pair.)

More premium lenses made of lighter and stronger materials, with additional scratch resistance and anti-glare coating or photochromic lens that change from clear to tinted, cost significantly more. But a pair of premium RX glasses that might cost you $300-$400 online would probably cost double that or more in a brick-and-mortar shop.

Yes, sometimes prescription glasses don't end up being perfect and may end up bothering your eyes. I once had a certain online store screw up the prescription in the left lens while the right one was correct. In many cases, you can return the glasses if you're not satisfied, but make sure to read the fine print on the store's return policy. Often, the store will remake the glasses for you or give you a full refund. However, certain sites only offer partial refunds.

Buying glasses online from a manufacturer like Warby Parker is not only cheaper but can be a lot less time-consuming, particularly after you've gone through the process of buying your first pair of online glasses and have your prescription and profile saved for future purchases. Since it only takes a few minutes to enter your prescription and measure your pupillary distance, the hardest part is agonizing over which frames to choose and mulling over lens options.

To help you narrow down your options and find the best prescription glasses online, I've pulled together the nine best online vendors for buying prescription glasses, vetted by me along with other CNET staff members.

Several CNET editors have bought their glasses on Warby Parker, which has a good selection of sharp-looking eyeglass frames. While glasses start at only $95 with a single-vision prescription, chances are you're going to pay a bit more -- around $150 to $200 -- based on the type of frame options you choose, your prescription and type of eyeglass lenses. Sunglasses start at $175, and progressive lenses in both eyeglasses and sunglasses start at $295. But based on my and my fellow co-workers' experience, the finished products tend to be a step up from what more budget-oriented sites offer.

Notable site features: The company's iPhone app -- sorry, there's no Android version yet -- allows you to search the site by frame size and to try on various frames virtually (it works surprisingly well) and better yet, you can try up to five frames at home for five days for free. Once your five days are up, you place your box in the mail with the prepaid return label (hopefully, you find at least one style that you like from among the five you picked for the home trial). There's also a $15 online virtual vision test to renew prescriptions that are outdated. (Based on the test, you may not be eligible, however.)

The online glasses store also has a "buy a pair, give a pair" program, so for every pair of glasses you buy, the company distributes a pair to someone in need, either for free or for "ultra-affordable prices." (See details.)

Shipping times: According to Warby: "Single vision glasses take seven to 10 business days to reach you from the time we have all of your order information. Sunglasses and progressives take 10 to 12 business days to reach you." (These estimates jibe with the experience of CNET editors who have used the service and my pair arrived in six business days.) You can pay more for expedited shipping.

Austin, Texas-based Roka branched out into the online prescription eyewear business a few years ago. The retailer's marketing slogan is "The most technically advanced eyewear that doesn't look technical," and its glasses are impressively light, durable and stylish looking. Like Warby Parker, these are at the higher-end of the online prescription eyeglasses spectrum, with prices of around $200 for a completed pair of prescription glasses, depending on some of the lens upgrades you might add. But Roka has some of the best glasses frames out there. 041b061a72