If you wear glasses, you know the struggle. You need clear vision. You also want a cool look. But you don't want to spend $500 at the eye doctor's office.
I always bought my prescription eyewear online. For years, I chased the lowest price. I thought all frames were the same. I was wrong.
I learned that saving a few dollars often meant major headaches later. I tracked my purchases over three years. I found a clear breaking point. Going above $45 totally changed my quality of life. This is how I moved from fragile frames to durable, stylish Retro Square metal glasses.
My first serious pair of online glasses cost $20. They were plastic and looked exactly like the picture. But they did not last.
They lasted three weeks before the trouble started. The plastic frames felt thin and weak. The lenses scratched if I even looked at them wrong. The main problem was the low quality of the entire shopping experience.
The sites selling these super cheap frames are often terrible to use. They are not the best online prescription glasses store option. They are barely usable stores.
One time, the website was so messed up it took me 2-1/2 hours to purchase two pairs of glasses. I was not able to type in my prescription and save it to continue my purchase. I had to wait for an email just to give them information I had already typed in on their silly website. It was a waste of my time.
If the frames cost $20, the company likely spent $5 on making them. They spend nothing on customer service or website design. You get a bad product and a terrible shopping time.
Verdict: Do not buy glasses in this price range. You will throw them out fast. Your time is worth more than the $20 you save.
I smartened up. I upgraded to $40 glasses. These frames were usually a thicker plastic or thin metal alloy. They looked like standard frames you see everywhere. They were… fine.
These mid-range frames had better hinges. They did not break in three weeks. They lasted about six months before the frame started twisting or the nose pads fell off. The lenses were generally clearer, too, with a slightly better anti-glare coating.
The biggest issue here was not the product failure but the long waits. These stores often handle huge numbers of orders. They cut costs by making you wait forever for the shipping. My prescription might be right, but getting the glasses becomes stressful.
I know I received my glasses but since they arrived later than expected I still haven't been able to pick them up. I'm now traveling. This means the frames are useless to me until I get home. Waiting weeks for something you need to see is too risky.
Verdict: Mid-range fixes the immediate quality problem. It does not fix the slow shipping and poor service problem. If you need your glasses fast, skip this stage.
This is where everything changed. I decided to find a real upgrade. I was looking for a specific style: Retro Square Optical frames in durable metal. I wanted something that felt solid.