Buy Prescription Glasses Online & Save Hundreds

August 3, 2026 / in Business Recommendations, How To, Personal / by Jason Terry

Hello friends! A few months ago, it was time for me to get my eyes examined and get a new prescription. My optometrist is set up like most in that they have a retail eyeglass store inside their clinic. And for years, I would get a new prescription and immediately walk to the retail side to order new glasses (or new lenses to be used with my existing frames based on insurance stuff.)

I did all of this like I normally do and ordered a new set of glasses. The bill? Over $700 (WITH the insurance applied!) Progressive lenses, blue light coating, the anti-glare upgrade – it all added up fast, the way it always does at these appointments.

This time though, I had nothing but problems when I picked up my new glasses. I won’t bore you with the details, but I had to go back to them at least five times before they got my glasses to where I could actually wear them. And that included redoing the lenses and putting me in a different frame. It was painful. And I never wanted to go through that experience again.

Then I Needed Prescription Sunglasses…

Summer was approaching and I wanted to start riding my new eBike in Shawnee Mission Park. But it was hard for me to see the details on my phone or the LED screen of my eBike without prescription glasses. (Yes, getting older sucks.) I didn’t have any prescription sunglasses. I knew that prescription sunglasses from my optometrist would cost around $400-$500. But there was no way I was going to go through all that again.

I did some quick research and found two reputable online retailers that specialize in prescription glasses and sunglasses. The two sites were GlassesUSA.com and ZenniOptical.com. I decided to give BOTH of them a try and ordered prescription sunglasses from each. I set up accounts on both sites, typed in the numbers from my prescription, and browsed the MANY options they had and then ordered. Each pair cost around $175 each. (The price for both pairs of sunglasses combined cost less than the $400-$500 it would have cost me for a SINGLE pair at the old place!)

GlassesUSA.com pair on the left,
ZenniOptical.com pair on the right

The Sunglass Verdict

I was shocked. My new prescription sunglasses fit great, had progressive lenses, were polarized and had the hydrophobic coating to make sure liquids (like sweat) would fly off of them easily.

I absolutely loved the blue frame version from GlassesUSA.com and I wear them to mow and do outdoor activities. I also really like the ZenniOptical.com sunglasses (that I keep in my car now) as well.

The experiment was a complete success. I couldn’t believe the difference in price and value.

The Experiment Expands

So now I’m a raving fan of ordering my own prescription glasses online.

Then I got an email from GlassesUSA.com that was a “Buy One Get One Free (BOGO)” offer. It really made me think about getting new daily-use glasses since I was still kind of struggling with my previous glasses. I decided to buy two different styles of glasses with my progressive prescription with the BOGO offer.

I received two OUTSTANDING pairs of glasses for less than $400 total. That’s not a typo. Less than $400 for two pairs, versus over $700 for one pair from the place that tested my eyes. Once I saw the gap in black and white, I couldn’t unsee it (pun intended), and I knew that my friends (yes you) need to know this option exists. There is a good chance you or someone in your family wears prescription glasses!

Why Is In-House So Expensive?

It’s not that optometrists are doing anything shady. The eye exam itself is a legitimate medical service, and it’s priced accordingly. The issue is what happens next: most eye doctors have a retail eyewear shop built right into the same office, and that convenience comes at a premium. You’re paying for:

• Brand-name frames with heavy markups
• In-house lab work and lens fabrication
• The overhead of running a retail storefront alongside a medical practice
• The simple fact that you’re standing right there, prescription in hand, and it’s easier to just say yes

None of that is illegal or even unusual – it’s just standard retail economics. But it means the exam and the eyewear are really two separate purchases that happen to be bundled into one convenient (and convenient for them) transaction.

The Prescription Is Yours – Legally

Here’s the part a lot of people don’t realize: once your optometrist finishes your exam, you’re legally entitled to a copy of your prescription, whether you ask for it or not. In the U.S., the FTC’s Eyeglass Rule requires eye doctors to give you a written prescription at the end of the exam, free of charge, regardless of whether you plan to buy glasses from them.

That prescription is a portable document. You can take it anywhere – including online retailers like GlassesUSA.com, Zenni Optical, Warby Parker, Costco and others – and use it to order comparable lenses and coatings for a fraction of the price.

A Few Things to Know Before You Try This

• You’ll need your pupillary distance (PD). This measures the distance between your pupils and it’s needed to fit progressive and multifocal lenses correctly. Some prescriptions include it automatically; if yours doesn’t, you can ask your optometrist for it (they’re required to include it in many states) or measure it yourself with a ruler and a mirror, or with one of the online tools these retailers provide.
• Double-check your prescription details before ordering. Sphere, cylinder, axis, add power – make sure everything on the online order matches what’s on your written prescription exactly.
• Give yourself an adjustment period. New progressive lenses take a few days to get used to no matter where you buy them, so this isn’t unique to ordering online.
• Look for return and warranty policies. Reputable online retailers offer free adjustments, remakes, or returns if the fit or prescription isn’t quite right – read the fine print before you buy.

The Bottom Line

Your eye exam and your eyewear purchase don’t have to happen in the same room, on the same day, or with the same company. Separating them can mean the difference between paying $700 for one pair of glasses and paying under $400 for two, and now you have two styles to choose from! If you break a pair at the lake or on a trip, you still have another perfectly good pair available!

The exam is worth paying for – your eye health matters. But once you have that prescription in hand, you have options. Personally, I will never buy glasses from my optometrist again when it is really easy to do it myself and save a lot of money. And the quality is as good if not better!

Have you ordered prescription glasses online before? I’d love to hear which retailers worked well for you.