this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui / Wellington
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I've been told the right way to go about it is to get your eyes tested by an optometrist (say, if you're an AA member with a free check at Specsavers, if you're a Southern Cross member with a free check at OPSM, etc.). Then ask them to print out your subscription, and order your lenses and frames online.
There are places online that will ship glasses to you at a fraction of the cost. The most common one I've heard is https://www.zennioptical.com though there are others that ship to NZ.
This way you can get a bunch of them and it's still cheaper than Specsavers.
I did that when I lost my prescription sunglasses and ended up going with Smart Buy Glasses. You scan your face so you can try models on virtually and it ended up being cheaper than claiming insurance. They did send a dozen or so requests for reviews though so that was slightly irritating.
I'm a bit skeptical about buying frames without trying them on first. I find a lot of frames don't look as good as I'd hoped once I see them on my face (this could be my face's fault to be fair).
And virtual means of trying on glasses isn't the same, I reckon. Slight differences in how the software measures your face size could mean they end looking different on you in real life.
I suppose I could buy a bunch, and be statistically pretty likely to get something that looks good, but that seems like it'd be creating a lot of unnecessary waste.
So yeah, maybe I'm just not savvy enough for these modern times, but I'd prefer to do it all in store.
Can you look for frames that are similar to the ones you already have?
I feel like I'd still want to try them on first. They might be just different enough that they end up looking wrong?
I probably should have prefaced all of this by saying I am an absolute pedant.
I too am an absolute pedant but with zenni optical you can see all the dimensions in mm (frame height, width, etc etc) and filter by them too.
So I measure glasses I already own, and then go for other glasses that are the exact same size and similar shape. It takes a lot of sorting through results but at the end of the day I can come out with glasses that cost $20 instead of $220.
Alternatively, pick ones you don't like and put up with them. I always spend an hour in the shop and never like whatever I end up with. I think that's because I don't wear them all the time, only while driving, so I don't get used to them.
I pretty much only take off my glasses to sleep and shower. In a sense, they're part of my face, so I'd rather get a pair I feel good about.
Fair enough. I've typically only used specsavers and never really liked them, so can't really suggest anything.
Thinking about it though, it sounds like your frames are wearing out. Can you get new frames and use the existing lenses to save some money?
I’ve used Zenni before and they’re decent if you don’t go for the absolute cheapest frames. There’s usually enough reviews with pictures from others to get an idea of how they look. But if OP is very specific about looks then trying in store somewhere is really the only option.
The savings from buying online are too good to pass up for me. My last prescription pair from Zenni was $55USD which I’m still using a couple years on. The exchange rate was better back then but for $400 OP could probably get 4 pairs of glasses.
This is the way. You can also then take the glasses into an optometrist and check that they are the right prescription.