Online eyeglass order experiences

I just paid $400+ with insurance picking up another $400 for the cost of a pair of glasses at my local optician. $800+ for an weak prescription sounds high to me. I have just started wearing glasses mainly for reading but I did get progressive lenses. I wanted to get a second pair of glasses but insurance only pays for 1 pair and I'm on my own on the 2nd. I see the ads for glasses from $39 but I'm sure those are gimmicks and they jack the price up when you get there, or they are total junk. So I started to do some investigating. I found the exact Nike frames that I had purchased from my local optician for $279 on for $50 with free shipping. I purchased them. Now I need lenses to go in the frames. Can anyone relate good or bad experiences that they had when ordering lenses on line. It seems like there are a tremendous number to choose from but not a lot of info. It almost seems like I am shopping for a mattress which consumer reports states that there is no way to compare and that the industry intentionally tries to confuse the consumer. Enough about another rant. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The trick is to buy the frames online and then take them to your optician for the lenses. If your optician won't put lenses in your frames, get another optician. I know for fact that opticians mark up their frames up to 500% (I have a friend who used to own an optical shop). Lenses are really not that expensive as long as you don't add all of the "extras" that they try to up-sell you into. Or - if you just need a second pair of readers, go to Walgreens or Walmart and get a nice set of Foster Grants "off the rack" for about $30

CelticCross74 works for a company that sells glasses. I believe he's an optician so maybe a PM to him may answer your questions.

Hidalgos was a mail order optical shop in business for nearly fifty years. They had excellent prices, especially for their many custom options, and did a fantastic job.

Unfortunately though, they finally closed down a couple of years ago ...

The off the shelf readers don't work so well for me. One eye needs more help than the other. I called my local Optician and they said they would do the lenses for my new frame for a 15% discount which would make them a mere $470. Online it appears the reasonable prices range from $100 to $250. There are some below and a few that go up to $500. If I order online for about 1/2 of what it is going to cost me locally will I be happy with them or am I just wasting my money?

Here is an article from Mary Hunt, the owner/founder/heap-big-mugwump of DebtProof Living, and author of Everyday Cheapskate, a nationally-syndicated newspaper column. I have been a subscriber to Mary Hunt's newsletter and website for years, and have come to trust her advice on various consumer-oriented items. Of course, your mileage may vary, and keep in mind that free advice is usually worth what you pay for it. I have not yet taken advantage of the advice in this article, but that is because I do not yet need new glasses.

Having made all the standard disclaimers, here is the article she recently wrote regarding buying prescription eyeglasses from an online provider. In short, she recommends two different sites/vendors.