How much for glasses? £500?

[DustyLee123]

I don’t wear glasses, so no idea how much they cost, but DH came home last week and said that he’d spent over £500 on a new pair. It seems extortionate to me, or is it normal?

I have a fairly odd prescription and varifocal lenses, no fancy lens treatments or anything. Last pair I got were £350 (but I did bogof).

Just been to specsavers with dd and there were about 30 staff there. That's where the majority of the cost goes I think, but her new glasses ended up not costing a penny. Deffo going to try and independent optician for my next pair.

Yep. When I'm looking for frames, I need something with the following properties:

• wide from hinge to hinge, cause I've got a big head
• either adjustable nose pads, or a perfect fit for my (small) nose, because my glasses are heavier than most people's and I wear them all the time, so a poor fit on the nose can result in sore patches
• a snug but comfortable fit around the ears, as heavier glasses need to fit better to remain secure, and I can't afford to have them broken from falling off (either financially, or in terms of having to wear an old spare pair in the wrong prescription until they're fixed — which, by the way, can take longer with more complex lenses)
• sturdy enough to be worn every waking moment, probably for several years (I can't even nip for a wee in the night without them)
• a frame design that's physically capable of holding my lenses — apparently, rimless and half-rimless won't cut it, and some other designs are out too
• a frame design that's relatively flat at the front — glasses lenses ordinarily have an outward curve on the front of the lens, but the front surface of my lenses is pretty much flat, meaning that if my lenses are put in a frame designed to follow the curve of normal spectacle lenses, the front lens edges will jut out weirdly from the front of the frames
• lenses that aren't very wide, because as the lens gets wider, the thickness at the outer edge increases exponentially
• lenses that aren't very deep top to bottom, as the bigger the lens, the heavier the glasses, again exponentially
• a lens shape without large or sharp points/corners, because the lens will be much thicker at those points
• lenses that are, however, still big enough to give me a good field of view, as I see barely anything useful beyond the edge of my glasses and need at least some peripheral vision
• and once all that's covered, I can think about looking for frame designs that are aesthetically a good fit for high-powered, thick-edged lenses — maybe a plastic frame that's quite thick from front to back, so you don't just get hit by the glare of the chunky bevelled lens edges before anything else; or maybe deep and/or patterned side arms, that block and draw attention away from the lens edge; or maybe plastic frames with clear parts that sort of merge the design of the frame into the material of the lens — the style of the grand can make a lot of difference to how noticeable the lens thickness is.

Once all that's dealt with, maybe I can start thinking about what frames I fancy, what suits my face, what fits my style, what's in fashion, whether I'm interested in a designer name, all that shit, and finally, what price range the frames are in.

I wonder if the "Just get some from the £29 range" crowd, if they'd just spent 45 minutes scouring the racks with the DO for those three or four pairs that turned out to be suitable, would pick the cheapest frame there, even if they hated it, even if it was still bloody pricey, even knowing the cost of the lenses will dwarf the cost of the frame anyway, and even knowing that it'll be a permanent feature of their face at all times for the next four years.

And no, you'd have to be mad to buy internet glasses for anything other than a mild, simple prescription IMO. Most online glasses sellers max out on what they're willing to dispense before they get near my prescription, and I still think they go further than they should.

Oh, this certainly resonates with me.

Especially car journey times. Someone once drove to Newcastle from Sheffield in under 2 hours because it was 1 am and there was no traffic, so they think that it is the average journey time

I went to my usual independent opticians and it cost nearly £500 just for new "office" lenses. Might have to switch to a chain...

Unless he has an incredibly high prescription and needs both thinning and special reinforcement of the frames - that’s extreme.

My daughter has to have extra thinning and has an additional issue with her eye and it’s still only £200 at specsavers (about £140 with the kids NHS voucher).

Exactly this.

The problem is that all the people who can’t imagine not being able to just get the cheap and cheerful option simply do not have any understanding what life is like with a complex prescription.

They have no idea what it’s actually like to not be able to function without your glasses. They have no idea how constrained the choice of frames is or what the issues would be if you don’t have good lenses with thinning and coatings or the right kind of frame or have it fitted correctly by someone who knows what they’re doing and can measure your face for the purpose.

It is annoying when that kind of naivety and ignorance leads to them dismissing any of those concerns. These people really don’t know how lucky they are.

Mine were 950 as I got special thin lenses
Love them

My current pair for driving/watching TV from Specsavers cost £15

the style of the grand can make a lot of difference

Too late to edit 🙄 I meant the style of the frame, obviously… though my autocorrect has got me wondering, what with the future inevitability of presbyopia, and the current reality of high inflation, how long it'll be before my glasses do hit a bloody grand 😒

I don't really have much choice but to pick from the restricted frame selection and buy the thinnest lenses, so I just factor it in.

Although, at times, when I've needed glasses more than I had money, I have gone to Asda to use their free high-index lens upgrade offer, and the glasses really weren't that bad at all. Yeah, they use a cheaper lens, with coatings that didn't last forever, and a slightly murky yellow-green cast to them if you looked closely. And they weren't the most carefully shaped/bevelled/polished lens edges I've ever had. But absolutely acceptable, and excellent for the price — I got 1.74 index lenses, at muggle prices.

I hope Asda are still doing it, cause it's not like shit vision grants you a high income — there's absolutely a need for affordable high-index lenses and I wish the NHS would cover at least Asda-level high index lenses, with a meaningful supplement (not 14 insulting bloody quid) for everyone above a certain threshold. At my prescription, I'm utterly incapacitated without glasses, and if I wear glasses with standard lenses they actually impinge on my eyelid movement 🤣

The price shoots up rapidly once you're an adult.

I also think people saying ‘surely you discuss this kind of purchase’ are missing the point somewhat. New glasses that cost a bloody fortune may well not be some discretionary purchase.

If your prescription has changed (and mine gets worse all the time), you actually need glasses to see. It’s much more like paying for the repairs required to get the car through its MOT or paying someone to fix your leaking chimney than something you have a budget conversation about.

Your glasses are also a permanent and significant part of your appearance. It does matter that, of the available options, you pick one that looks reasonably good. Thats’s no more frivolous than opting for a porcelain crown when you’ve broken your front tooth, rather than the cheaper options.

Do you realise that many people need their glasses for far more than driving/watching tv?

To everyone who is paying £100/£150 for glasses where are you buying them from?

If he has a complex prescription then not remotely abnormal. If he doesn't then it comes down to preference on frame style / weight, lens thickness etc. I wear glasses all the time and have done since I was in pre school, I want something nice that I like and I don't think that's unreasonable for anyone who wears glasses all the time.

There's a brand I've used for about ten years that I love. They're essentially custom made and my last pair were about £700. I have three pairs with correct prescription that I wear regularly. I'm aware I could get glasses that would correct my vision the same for about £70.

My frames alone were £500. Plus lenses and coating etc, I paid £750. It works out about £3 per week.

I mean, most opticians have glasses for £100 but only if you have a really simple prescription and don't need to pay for any of the added extras.

Specsavers have glasses for £89 but that's for the most basic prescriptions and without any extras. If you have astigmatism or a complex prescription or any other "issue" then you're screwed, basically.

I think people with very simple issues have no idea how expensive it is to pay for a pair of glasses.

It depends on the prescription, whether they are varifocal, if you need thin lenses. My last pair were £500.

"CountryShepherd
If you have a joint account, wouldn't you discuss a purchase that large?

Perhaps you have the sort of account where you wouldn't notice £500 suddenly disappear, but many people, myself included, would!

DH is picking up his new specs this week. I know how much they are because we discussed it beforehand.

Neither of us control each others personal expenditure on a day to day basis. But I'd be pretty cheesed off if he'd spent £500 without any discussion. And vice versa!

But would you discuss a car repair when you can't use the car otherwise?

For me that's the same with glasses. I need them, full stop. I can't see, drive, read, work, cook, clean, go shopping, hey, I can't even walk down the stairs safely.

I can't wear contacts and I can't change the fact that my eyes are so bad that I have to pay a small fortune for glasses.

So, no I don't discuss it. I know when I need new ones and budget accordingly.

If I can't afford a branded expensive frame I may go and choose a less expensive one and save maybe £50-100. But the lenses aren't negotiable at all."

Absolutely this! I do have to budget for my glasses. As I can't afford £500 in one go otherwise.

However, it's actually cheaper than when I did wear contact lenses as they were around £30 per month. So now instead of paying a monthly direct debit I put that money aside so I know I can buy my glasses when needed. It's an essential expense.

Likewise I put a little money aside for car repairs/service/mot costs as without a car I cannot work.

I think sometimes people with decent eyesight see glasses as a frivolous thing, whereas for those of us with bad eyesight they are an absolute essential.

I got 2 pairs from specsavers for £80 :/

@lifebeginsaftercoffee I also think that people who don't wear glasses, or don't wear them all the time appreciate that you might want the nicer, slimmer, lighter frames or the better quality, thinner lenses for something that is on your face, all day, everyday.

If you knocked your front teeth out if you could get a denture, or you could get a metal crown to cover a chipped tooth. It’s cheaper and does a job. I bet most people would prefer a nice porcelain crown / veneer or a permanent realistic implant.

If you wear your glasses every day, it absolutely is worth paying more to get a pair which is comfortable and stylish. I paid about £500 for my current pair.
According to the Style and Beauty board, many women (me not included) will happily pay more than that for a handbag.

@TheCoffeeNebula do you have the same issue than me where you try those frames but obviously they dont have your lenses in so you can’t see yourself in the mirror and have no clue how they will look like anyway?

I go on feel nowadays.

Which wouldn't get nearly as much use as a pair of glasses.

The staff at Specsavers take pictures of you on their iPad so you can see yourself. If you aren't happy with that just get them to take photos of you using your mobile. There are ways round it.