To think glasses are too expensive

[CrazyHippo]

I had eye surgery 18months ago and will need glasses indefinitely. I will need varifocals too..

I was told to wait 12 weeks post surgery to get glasses which i did..16 weeks infact.
Standard frames and decent varifocals set me back £190.

Just a year later my vision has changed and im going to need new glasses but really cant justify 200pound again just because 1 eye has changed.

Ive shopped around but that makes little difference.

Not sure what im really asking..more of a moan than anything I think.

I’m another one who can’t fault asda. I think I was £39 for varifocals. I didn’t want to spend too much in case I didn’t like them but got used to them from day one.
Also have varifocal sunglasses from asda which are fantastic

I can recommend Asda Optician prices. Everything is included and good service. I got 2 designer frames, 1 varifocal sunglasses and the other 'office' glasses. I need a strong prescription in one eye. Anti-glare coating on both. £149 for both including the eye exam. There were cheaper frames too.

Used to swear by Tesco - but they've sold their opticians service on to Vision Express and the prices seem to have gone through the roof now they've done so. I just paid £300 for two pairs for me... after struggling on for months and months with headaches because my prescription had changed and I had no disposable income or leeway in the budget to allocate that kind of money to myself for a while. In the end my mum's paid - bloody things ain't showed up yet though!

I wasn't impressed with Asda opticians - never did get on with the glasses I got from there really.

But yep - I think LENSES as part of glasses are too expensive by far (out of my £300... one pair of frames was £40 and the other £50 - the entire rest of that cost is lenses, lens thinning, lens whatever else they were recommending I shoved on there... and a bottle of eye drops cos apparently my eyeballs are like the Sahara desert)

£190 I would consider a very good price from somewhere that offers support / fitting etc.

Prices easily go to £400-£500 when you need extra thin scratch resistant anti glare lenses etc

If you are wearing glasses every day they need to be comfy and you need to be happy with them.

I buy glasses from Select Specs online - you put your prescription and pupillary distance in and pick frames, add anti-glare etc. Mine cost £15, I wear them every day, and they're great. I don't have a hugely strong prescription so I can't vouch for them in terms of that but I need them to drive etc and they're perfect!

Oh dear, ignore that - I just checked their lens prices for anything other than bog standard and you're still going to be looking at quite a bit :(

Mine cost £400+ because I have a complex prescription. I'm afraid to order from an online retailer in case they make a mistake & it will cost £££ to correct it.

On glasses direct a pair of Raybans with thinned anti glare varifocals comes to £150 all in. For single vision lenses with thinned lenses scratch resistant and anti glare it’s £101 including rayban frames. That prescription is for astigmatism. The savings are considerable.

Tbh I'd be quite pleased with £190. I am no way near that and that was before I had own op. My next glasses willl be v. expensive.

God yes. I've kept the same pair of frames for 12 years now (admittedly been using daily disposable contacts for the last 7) and just get the glass replaced occasionally- as the glass has to be super thin for my prescription and usually costs about 200.

I went to contacts for sport and due to the nature of my work but could probably manage again with glasses since going part time and doing less sport, which are cheaper than the contacts over two years except I'd like to use the contacts so both would be extortionate!

So I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place! I'll be needing varifocals soon too apparently....

Ah well at least the Guardian says it's a sign of intelligence today ...

To add, those frames were high end and I was earning a lot more then than now, so were about 400 all in. 12 years ago.

Don't forget, if your job entails using a computer screen your employer has to provide you with eye tests and basic lenses for the computer distance. (not varifocal sadly) it usually involves a voucher for a very small amount, or an eye test free and basic frames / voucher from a specific optician. Not ideal but worth checking out.

Same for me - very, very strong prescription means i need superthin lenses (or i will get open pressure sores on my nose), and migraine means they need to be fitted perfectly, and coated. i get the cheapest frames, but its still around £400. Still, when living abroad i had to pay €1000 for a pair, so uk is a lot less expensive. but i can only afford glasses every 5-6 years (and can't affird sunglasses at all)

My mum's prescription is so complex she's up to £700 when she buys a pair of glasses (she does like really ornate pretty frames though)!

I got a right bollocking from the optician for going 6 years without an eye test and glasses change though - simply haven't been able to afford it (we're the epitome of the just-about-managings). Prescription's hardly changed though apparently, needed a couple of tweaks to sort out my near vision - so it's just the coating that seems to be fucked in my current glasses... I really really like these frames though so I'm very tempted to send them to be reglazed somewhere once I my new ones ever materialize at the optician!

I so do not suit these really oversized retro looking plastic frames that are all the rage at the moment - I just end up looking like the fat kid in really bad NHS glasses from school photos of old. That's my bigger gripe I think at present... the frame choices are shockingly bad - unless you can carry off the big bold frames without veering into tragic NHS kid or Dame Edna Everage territory.

Well now i feel like i need to apologise to those paying £400+ for glasses..mine dont seem so bad after all.

Just found my receipt for my glasses and it seems i was given big discounts anyway.. i didnt even know they had been thinned!

Frames: £39
Elite varifocal: £119
Anti-glare and scratch resist: £30
Complimentary lens thining: RRP £99. £0

My distance prescription is quite weak but enough to definitely need glasses, my close up prescription is very strong and i have astigmatism in 1 eye. My eyes dont self adjust cause i had the natural lenses replaced with artificial (right eye 2009, left eye 2016).. similar to cataract surgery.

Ive spoken to specsavers where my current glasses are from and have been told they cant just correct 1 lens - theyd have to charge me for both lenses and cant guarantee theyd then fit the worn frames well as a lot of work is needed on the lenses themselves which could incur a margin of error.

Going to have a chat with Asda at the weekend

going 6 years without an eye test

every day I give thanks I went when advised - so my glaucoma was caught in time to be treated.