Cheap glasses?

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bugbear

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I am very happy with my posh glasses, from my posh opticians.

But because I sometimes forget to take my glasses
into work on monday, so I want a backup pair
to put in a drawer.

There are loads of cheap glasses-over-the-internet companies.

Can anyone recommend a particular one, that they've used successfully?

BugBear
 
I've ordered reading glasses with success direct from Hong Kong through ebay. Very cheap, £5? , or the £10 ones from Boots. Provided both eyes are about the same strength my optician told me there is no need to pay £200 for a prescription pair.

John
 
John15":1hhmgh9o said:
I've ordered reading glasses with success direct from Hong Kong through ebay. Very cheap, £5? , or the £10 ones from Boots. Provided both eyes are about the same strength my optician told me there is no need to pay £200 for a prescription pair.

John

Sadly, I have a large (2 dioptre) difference between my eye, and some astigmatism, so off the shelf
AKA "reading glasses" won't work for me.

BugBear
 
BB

This might sound daft, but for a spare emergency pair, could you get two £1 pairs from the poundshop, (I jest not), one for each eye, and nad one from the other set and put it into the frame to use?

For £2 all in, it might be worth a punt.

(But I'm no optician, so feel free to shoot me down - won't be offended)
 
I had the same problem. I wondered if I could get 2 pairs of cheapies, one for each eye strength, and swap the lenses to match my eyes - you could even wear the other pair upside down as spare spares!

In the end I got some single vision readers from glassesdirect.co.uk

Timing! - same idea though.
 
In my experience, it's always been the frames that cost the money.
I'm lucky that I only have to wear them for driving, so I got a pair for my car, another for the wife's and two pairs for use on the bike, all for £40 from Specsavers.
 
geoffshep":3i7tkko7 said:
I had the same problem. I wondered if I could get 2 pairs of cheapies, one for each eye strength, and swap the lenses to match my eyes - you could even wear the other pair upside down as spare spares!

In the end I got some single vision readers from glassesdirect.co.uk

Timing! - same idea though.

I got them to my new prescription there - they were all but unusable.
 
I ordered safety specs from here http://www.safetyspecs.co.uk/index.htm
They were nicely made and a good price, the prescription was correct and pupil distance seemed correct too.

I have ordered other prescription glasses online and so far every pair has been correct. The main problem with online specs is that you need to make the adjustments yourself, as long as you are happy with this then its fine. Oh and you can't see how they look on you easily either. My solution is to buy 1-2 pairs from the optician that are my everyday, look smart glasses, and then I buy spare backups online.
 
phil.p":q186qsu4 said:
geoffshep":q186qsu4 said:
I had the same problem. I wondered if I could get 2 pairs of cheapies, one for each eye strength, and swap the lenses to match my eyes - you could even wear the other pair upside down as spare spares!

In the end I got some single vision readers from glassesdirect.co.uk

Timing! - same idea though.

I got them to my new prescription there - they were all but unusable.

In light of your question - were they safety or "normal"

What made them unusable? Fit? Prescription wrong? Prone to scratching?

I (until now) thought glassesdirect looked quite promising :-(

BugBear
 
The best and by far the cheapest source of new online glasses I have found is www.sorryformakingyousquint.com They are Brilliant!
 
phil.p":24o0aw40 said:
I might have been unlucky. They just didn't seem to be quite right. They were heavy and maybe the pupil spacing was wrong - they gave me a headache quite quickly.

In the old days, there was a large available variation in frames. Not any more.
 
Define "cheap" ?

I went into Ollie Quinn in Spitalfields market (very hipster :lol: ) and found a pair of clear framed glasses with lenses with all the coatings known to man for £98 all in... I say thats very cheap, but then I'm used to paying £200 for a set :(
 
woodenstuart":10bcdca3 said:
Define "cheap" ?

I went into Ollie Quinn in Spitalfields market (very hipster :lol: ) and found a pair of clear framed glasses with lenses with all the coatings known to man for £98 all in... I say thats very cheap, but then I'm used to paying £200 for a set :(

Without getting too philosophical - £50 or less.

BugBear
 
I go to specsavers as they are pretty much the best option where I live. I get a free test and then I normally get 2 pairs of nice glasses for about £100ish, they last me 2-4 years. Online glasses I tend to pay about £20-30 for a pair.
 
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