To ask if you wear them how much your last pair of spectacles cost

[JaceLancs]

I have worn glasses since I was 7, then contact lenses from 18 up until my 40s when I developed dry eyes and other problems which meant I had to give them up
Now at 51 am having to consider varifocals
I have quite a strong prescription so usually have the lenses made thinner, prefer rimless styles and due to allergies have to have either titanium or stainless steel frames
My current pair are also transitions as I found that cheaper last time than buying a second pair even with the offers around
I've tried 3 local independents along with vision express and specsavers
Cheapest quote I've had was around £400 dearest £600+
That was not for custom varifocals but not for the very basic ones either

That said, I don't have the allergy complexities of the Op and I'm fighting moving on to verification, although I do probably need them..

ephemeral, I always troll round the shops to find a few that I like, then search for them online. I'd never buy without trying on first twenty times. There is one website where you can try before you buy - can't remember its name - but you have to let them take payment first. They do refund swiftly though.

Free eye test (thank you car parking ticket!) £40 single vision glasses. Utter bargain I thought.

£600

I have bought online for approx £15 (all in) no thinning, just distance lenses.

For someone who suggested they needed extra thin lenses for a perscription of -7, I have had -7s made up before without the thinning in a plastic frame and they are fine.

^just to say you can get away with much thicker lenses with a plastic frame, especially if the frame is chunky too.

Have minus 7 and now need variafocals. Whilst I go to a posh optician for the test, I got my most recent glasses at ASDA - two pairs of variafocals with (ultra) thinned, anti-scratch lens and "designer frames" - Karl Lagerfeld for £159. And the fitting (v necessary for variafocals) and lessons in how to use them felt much better than the royal warrant opticians I've been going to since childhood. I've tried the cool online glasses in the past and find they get loose very fast...

Around £400 including a sight test which I had to pay for this time as it was less than a year since my previous test. But I needed new lenses, so had to suck it up.

Very short sighted, mild astigmatism, I have the thinnest lenses I can, anti reflective coatings etc. So the lenses are very expensive.

Frames were no more than £60 though, possibly less.

But I'd gone about 4 years on the last pair, so it wasn't too bad. And I too struggle with contacts now that I'm older, so do wear my glasses a lot. I really should have two pairs, but that's not remotely affordable!

I have varifocals, thinned down. last pair from specsavers, including discount for not having the 'free' second pair was £375. They were not transitions lenses.
Local independent (whom I want to support) wanted £600 just for the lenses.

I think £400 sounds a bargain fro all you've specified.

I've only started needing glasses for reading the last few years. I'm on my second pair and they cost £50 from an independant optician.

I went for the cheapest last time and moved up a tenner this time as I though I would loose them. The current pair are hiding somewhere

I do get my eye test free

Yes, starting to think that maybe I did quite well after all! Although I've looked online for 1.9 glass lenses, they are around £200.

But I'm not sure I'd trust buying them online, I like going to the actual shop, I've been using the same small chain for nearly 30 years.

DH is barely short sighted at all and goes to Vision Express.

I have quite a complicated prescription and have been told that varifocals will be expensive (i.e.over 400 so probably more like 600). The optician keeps suggesting that I get them now but I don't want to yet. My near vision isn't that bad yet (+1.5) and I prefer to save the money and just to look over the top of my glasses if I am wearing them (sometimes wear contact lenses)

£284 for varifocals from Specsavers. Thinnest lenses. Discount for not having a 'free' second pair. Worst thing is that now I've got them I don't like the frames, arrgh.

I think a good way to try out online is to order a spare pair, to your perscription, lowest cost options so you can see what the difference is and whether the fit and customer service suits you.

If you like the above you might consider spending on more extras.

Probably been said already but GO TO ASDA.

If you have a strong prescription they automatically thin your lenses at no extra cost.

I've just got 2 new pairs with thin lenses for £125.

I bought an expensive pair after an eye test (300pounds+) that I only use for reading (and then really only in poor light. I lost them and went to Boots and bought a cheap pair for 18 pounds to tide me over (Foster Grant - metal and glass rather than plastic). Had them for a year now and no idea why I should buy far more expensive ones? Are they bad for my eyes?

I went to an independent place and paid £140 for varifocals with anti scratch coating. Unfortunately I hated them, and have switched to pound shop reading glasses and they work just as well

Mine were £400 or so for frames + lenses.

I got my eye test free; I do sometimes if they think they can get away with charging it to the NHS (I'm very short-sighted and have a complicated prescription).

The guy also took a '30% off' sticker off one pair of frames and stuck it on the pair I wanted, which were NOT 30% off.

Expensive, but I got very thin lenses and scratchproof/anti-reflective coatings. And I wear my glasses all day, every day: I want the pair I want, not regardless of cost exactly but I am willing to suck up a high cost. Plus they're the first and most noticeable 'feature' that people see when they look at me, so I like to have ones that I feel confident about.

Interesting thread - I'm -8 and after spending £300 in Specsavers on glasses that weren't right for my eyes a year ago I'm now looking to get them re-glazed to save a bit of money, but seems a lot of places don't do that. So I'll probably have to go back to Specsavers, which doesn't thrill me as the one I went to was utter crap.

Reglaze My Glasses

£61.50 for 2 pairs! Meant to be £164 but I got £102.50 off as had a voucher and a pair free as it was glasses direct. Proud of that bargain hunting!!! :)

I paid about £800 last summer for 2 x pairs of Raybans with medium thin lenses; horrendous astigmatism correction and issues surrounding my macular degeneration.

I shall, however, check out Glasses Direct as I have just been made redundant. I do love Raybans though for the same cost per wear reasoning as other posters.

I shelled out nearly £400 on thinned varifocals, high prescription. Haven't really got on well with them but I put up with them because I can't afford to do otherwise. The Fitting is crucial - the slightest tilt or slip of position on the nose and the vision is off - I've been back and forth to my optician having them adjusted. I can survive with them but still use my reading glasses (even though the prescription isn't my latest) and I have started just reading without wearing any glasses and by holding the book right in front of my face with good light as I can see more clearly that way. Obviously I don't do that when I'm in company I miss being able to wear contact lenses - but those days are gone. I haven't got any prescription sunglasses so will have to fork out for them too. I find I change my glasses, on average, every two years.

£90 for 2 pairs from asda a couple of years ago. Optician prices are

ShotgunNotDoingThePans Thank you! You might just have saved me a fortune!