To think only the rich can have 20:20 vision?

[UniversityQuestions]

I have just been quoted £550 for a pair of glasses. These were not fancy frames: about £150 for the frame itself. Cannot really go cheaper as I want to look decent as I wear these things all day. The rest of the cost was the lenses which are varifocal as I need long distance and reading correction. Because my long distance is bad I need to pay for thinned lenses to stop me having inch thick glass in front of each eye. So once I’ve paid for the varifocal and the thinning then lenses were £400!

how can normal people with poor vision afford to correct their vision? Am I missing something?

I think if you receive one of X or Y benefits, you can get a pair of glasses for free.

I agree they are very expensive however, you need to look after them!

Obviously having money can improve your life.

That's quite a lot. Can you laser?

I got laser done 8 years ago. Best investment I ever made. Expensive at the time but has saved me money long term and my life is so much easier. I hated, hated not being able to see.

Asda do varifocals for same price as regular lenses. I got top band designer frame and lenses for £130, but you could pick something middling like Orla Kiely etc frame for £80 all in.

Oh and thinner lenses included in price or very small uplift - mine are thinnest available all included for £130

I get my varifocal glasses from ASDA as they don’t charge more for this type of lense. They have various deals going from 2 pairs for £120 upwards.

Yes, varifocals are very expensive.

i don’t have them for this reason - it was cheaper to have two pairs.

they did me a monthly payment plan.

@UniversityQuestions are you absolutely sure you need them? Ignore my whole spiel if you are sure. But possibly this might save someone else a lot of money....

I posted here after a bizarre appointment with the optician last year

Suffice to say, they were trying to push varifocals on me but obviously I'm the one who sat through the tests...

I said to them "if I was still driving, would I need distance glasses?" They said no, you're fine to drive as you are.

I did have headaches if I was reading a book late in the evening. I now realised that was probably more to do with light levels but anyway...

Related this story to some colleagues who had exactly the same experience, not in this local area. I think it's a thing doing the rounds.

The speed with which they took me out of the exam room to choose glasses for these vari focals that I don't need, I can see some people would just get swept away and intimidated.

I didn't order anything, except a cheap pair of reading glasses online. I keep forgetting to put them on. I think that pretty much tells you how necessary they are.

My glasses are the most expensive thing I own. My laptop cost less and I don't own my home or have a car.
Most people in the UK have a house and car so I presume that they could afford glasses if they wanted to.

Yes, my late father did this

I never thought to ask why, but I suspect it was about the cost and inconvenience of vari focals

Apparently, a lot of people find they make them feel a bit seasick as well.

Asda is the place to go for varifocals at a reasonable price.

https://opticians.asda.com/our-complete-price-on-glasses

Have you tried the on line stores like glasses direct, or Specsavers, vision express or even boots? You haven't said which company...mil was getting ripped off by visiting the same option she'd been going to for 50 years...she saved over £300 by switching to Specsavers

My eyes are so bad I get free eye test and a voucher off my glasses, still cost me over £300 the last time I changed them. I decided not to have variafocals as I don't think I'd cope with them.

I can't buy glasses online as prescription is to high and complicated 😫 and due to this I wouldn't risk laser surgery either as at lest with glasses I can see.

UniversityQuestions That's a lot of money! Everything is ridiculously expensive now, isn't it.

If you are receiving UC as well as LCWRA (sickness benefit) then you get them for free.

I just got mine for free, although I had to stand there & discuss exactly what UC I'm getting & really argue my case... Then they were heavily trying to persuade me to pay towards more expensive glasses (there was only a choice of a few free ones, which is fine) & then again for more expensive features (it wasn't a nice experience, although I'm eternally grateful for getting them for free this time)

The OP has stated that she needs long distance lenses.

It's always a choice, I choose (as an optometrist) to wear varifocals as I don't want to keep taking my glasses off and on.

@UniversityQuestions that is quite an expensive frame. You could definitely go cheaper, but even if you don't think about it differently. It's something which you wear all day every day. Most people's glasses last a couple of years when they get to the varifocals stages, so that's around 78p a day.

Another vote for Asda, I got two pairs of varifocals for £120, think it was buy one get one half price. My last pair cost over £450 at Vision Express.

That's cheap. My last varifocals would have cost £800 without the discount given to the deal at Specsavers. God only knows how I'd afford it if my very generous parents hadn't paid!

Have you tried Glasses Direct? You upload your prescription then choose frames. You can have a few frames sent to you to try on before you choose. I’ve found them cheap but I don’t need varifocals to be fair.
otherwise as PPs have said, normal glasses and cheapo reading glasses will do the job

I used to pay that, I now get them from glasses direct and it’s more than halved the price.

I got my last pair of glasses from Glasses Direct, £9 frames (that do look decent I might add, I have had expensive frames before and I don't think they look any different!) Once I added on lenses and postage I think I paid £27 all in. Varifocals obs more expensive, but not to the tune of £500. Worth a try?

(Btw the easy way to get the right fit is to look at the numbers on the inside of your current specs frame that fit you well, and then put those numbers into the website.)

Thanks all. I will look at Asda. I’m scared to try the online retailers as o like to try on lots of frames.

my distance is -6. My read is +1.75 so I definitely need to wear glasses all the time. I can’t even see my own feet without them!

Another recommendation for Asda. Good range of frames and there is nothing wrong with their varifocal lens quality. I spent over 12 years working at an independent optician and have used lenses from all price ranges.

Also here to rec Asda. Strangely brilliant customer service too.

I wear contacts mostly but wanted a super cheap pair of specs for bedtime reading. I’m -9 prescription and I couldn’t get cheap ‘bottle top’ glasses anywhere, even online. Prescription apparently too thick to produce without being thinned. So I was told. And not even just normal thinning was possible, cheapest I could get them was ‘ultra’ thin which added like £50+ to the cost! I told them over and over I don’t care how they look, I am FINE with ugly with massive frames, but it just wasn’t an option.
I am effectively being penalised for poor vision. Larger people don’t get a surcharge for bigger clothes, it would be discriminatory! I feel the same about glasses.
I ended up buying a pair that are far too weak for my eyes, but will work if I hold the book a bit closer.

Glasses Direct will send you the empty frames to try on if you want to, their tool that AIs the glasses onto a selfie isn’t terrible either.
We’ve been customers for years, particularly like the fact you can put in two prescriptions bit still get the second pair half price - has been great for me and DH