14 Best Places to Buy Glasses Online 2022 for Every Budget | Allure

Finding the right pair of glasses can be overwhelming, especially if you’re shopping solely online. Thankfully, the best places to buy glasses online have made online shopping for reading, blue light, and prescription eyeglasses as effortless — and affordable — as ever. These online retailers are all about convenience, quality, and frame style. Not to mention, you also have the options to comb through product reviews, read up on warranty policies, and utilize virtual try-on features.

To help siphon through bifocal-shopping best practices, we asked a few experts for advice on buying prescription glasses online. First thing’s first: Keep in mind that expensive frames are not necessarily better than their less-costly counterparts. “Don’t necessarily look for the highest- or the lowest-priced merchandise,” says Jonah Berman, OD, an optometrist based in New York City. TL;DR: Just because a pair of glasses is costly doesn’t mean it’s the best on the market.

On the flip side of that, inexpensive frames don’t always equate to a good deal if the quality is bad. Instead of focusing on the price as the main factor of whether or not to buy a pair, look for details on the materials used, ask an eye doctor for recommendations, and check reviews from other shoppers before buying. Don’t forget to check if the retailer has a return policy and offers full refunds before you hit checkout, too. 

Before you order glasses, consider making an in-person visit to an optician to confirm your current prescription. Your needs may have changed since your last pair of glasses, so get things all squared away with an eye doctor before adding them to your cart. “If you have a more complicated prescription like a very high plus or minus — or especially a progressive lenses prescription [which combines three different prescriptions into one pair of lenses] — it may be a good idea to go into the optician for a proper in-person fit,” New York City-based ophthalmologist Yuna Rapoport, MD, tells Allure. 

If you have vision insurance, it’s also worth noting to check if your online glasses retailer is covered by it. Many online shops accept most major vision insurance policies (including the ones on this list) but make sure you check with your insurance company before ordering.