(Note: This post was sponsored by Arlington Contact Lens Service, Inc. All opinions are my own. Read our disclosure policy here.)
I have been saving money by ordering prescription glasses online for many years now.
Though I have my go-to sites for discounted glasses and contacts, I was excited to be given an opportunity to try DiscountGlasses.com and DiscountContactLenses.com.
If you’re looking for ways to save money on prescription eye glasses and contact lenses, you’ll definitely want to check these two sites out as options!
DiscountGlasses.com offers eye glasses starting at just $9.95 with free shipping on all orders. Since lenses are finished in and ship from the USA, you can get overnight or same-day shipping if you’re in a rush.
DiscountContactLenses.com offers the lowest price guaranteed on their lenses with a price matching policy, and shipping is free on all orders over $99. You can also get 20% off as a new customer! (Just look for the new customer banner at the top of their website to get your promo code.)
Both sites offer a FREE 365-day return policy. That means if the lenses aren’t working for you — or even if your prescription changes — you can return them for a year after your initial purchase.
One of the things I loved about DiscountGlasses.com was that they offer the option for you to virtually try on many of the glasses. This really helped me to decide which pair to go with.
You just go to their site and look for the Instant Try On Feature. Click on it and they walk you through the steps of how to do it. Basically, you’ll just take a few photos of yourself and a quick video of your face turning side to side with your computer’s camera (they coach you on exactly how to do this) and then they upload it to their Instant Try On section.
Once you’ve done this, then a little icon will appear next to all of the glasses that are set up for this feature. While not every pair of glasses offers this, a number of them do and I decided to only choose between the ones that offered this since it was SO helpful to see very accurately what the glasses would look like on me!
If you are nervous about knowing how to get the correct measurements for your glasses, I recommend asking your eye doctor for this information. I had an eye appointment and just told them that I was ordering my glasses online and could they measure my eyes for this. They were happy to do so!
I was very pleased with the pair of glasses I ended up with. They look cute, they are very comfortable, and they fit me well.
While they aren’t as sturdy or high-quality as what you might get if you were paying for a much more expensive pair of name brand glasses, at the price that they were ($57 + $19 for the Gold Lens Package + $10 for the Anti-Reflective Coating), I was incredibly happy with them and will wear them over and over again — probably for years to come (provided my prescription continues to stay stable as it has for a number of years!)
J says
Do any of these sites accept vision insurance? Or is this just completely out of pocket?
Helen says
I wish I could save money on contacts, but I have astigmatism in one eye. Most deals seem to be on one years worth of one type. So I basically need six months each of two types and can never find deals.
Crystal Paine says
Did you look at DiscountContacts.com? From what I saw, it looks like you can order a 3-month or a 6-month supply. I used to have astigmatism in one eye (believe it or not, my eyes have gotten better not worse and I no longer really have astigmatism so I can wear the same contacts again) and I was able to order two different contacts online when I had that.
Crystal Paine says
I’ve also ordered contacts from 1-800-Contacts. And I’ve heard great reviews of people getting deals on contacts from Costco, too.
Becky says
I was excited to try this site, but when I checked, it is more expensive than Zenni for me. Even with a $10 discount, they offered me.
Crystal Paine says
I love Zenni, too! I have used them and Coastal Contacts for ordering glasses from in the past.
I think it’s so important to always do your research and find the best deal! Way to go!
I will mention that the shipping takes a really long time from Zenni. It was usually at least 4-6 weeks for me. One time, my glasses got “lost in transit”, but when I contacted them about it after waiting for over 6 weeks, they quickly replaced them and I ended up getting two pair of glasses because the “lost in transit” glasses eventually showed up!
Johnna says
Has anyone used these types of services that require bifocals?
Becky says
I ordered bifocals from Zenni, they are perfect!
April Hetzel says
Do you have to have a prescription from your eye doctor to get the contact lenses?
Crystal Paine says
You have to have a valid prescription to get them contact lenses. In most cases, I believe that’s prescription that has been issued/verified in the past year.