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 went in for the Specsavers £70 glasses offer and came away spending £560. By the time you have the bits you need £70 is a distant memory .

That's Specsavers. Asda don't change extra for special lenses that the OP needs or the uplift is much smaller.

Another option OP might be varifocal contact lenses. DP has them and he says they're like witchcraft.

The issue is you are not looking to simply correct your vision, you are also looking for a frame that looks good, and a premium lens option

Not saying there's anything wrong with that mind, it's perfectly reasonable!

'poor people ' or people who don't want to spend anything extra on their glasses do walk around with very basic frames with thick heavy lenses and typically don't have varifocals

I have this debate all the time as an optician

There's a difference between just correcting your vision and having a 'decent' eyewear product

That seems unnecessarily expensive. I got Vera Wang frames, extras on the lenses, and they weren't anything like that much. I paid about what you did for multi-focals and reading glasses, so two pairs of glasses. Private optometrist.

Also here to recommend Asda opticians. I got a pair of glasses and sunglasses for £120 with the lenses thinned at no extra cost. Hopefully they will open more in-store opticians as not all have them.

Eye tests don't just check your vision but the health of your eyes.

It is really important not to miss an eye test.

I get my prescription and go online and order a few pairs of glasses, still need the lenses thinned but it’s a lot cheaper.

Agree. I worked out after 2 years, it then paid for itself by what I was paying in contact lenses.

Do all the online glasses fans on here have complicated prescriptions?

Getting varifocals right can be quite tricky.

Another vote for Asda. The only thing I have found is that the lenses tend to scratch easier than others. But it just means I have changed my glasses every two years, which as a daily wearer of one pair they tend to need changing that often anyway. I paid £150 for my test, a pair of glasses with regular thinned lenses and sunglasses. I have been using them for the last three or four pairs of glasses.

I agree glasses are eyewateringly expensive. I’ve been shortsighted all my life. Until I got diagnosed with cataracts (I’m 65 and they run in families and mum had them too), I had them done privately, best money I ever spent, I now only need glasses for reading and don’t need expensive frames for that. The NHS waiting list is a couple of years and my vision would have continued to deteriorate to the point my quality of life would be impacted. I love that I can wear fashionable sunglasses now too.

Go to Asda, they have a great range of reasonably priced frames.

Sorry, I am an optician - I was not clear what I meant! I’m saying that if someone asked me to check some varifocals they got online I would not do it! I wouldn’t do it for someone who came into my work, and neither would I do it for a friend, and I’d be pretty pissed off that they would think I should.

There is a lot that goes into prescribing and dispensing a good pair of varifocals and I have no idea how that can be done properly online - it can’t.

Yes I have never paid more than £200 all in (also varifocals).

You wanted to look good so you paid £150 frames - that’s fine but there are cheaper options available.

That said, I was shocked to learn that using my own frames would at least double the price 😱

I wouldn’t advise Glasses Direct for anything other than single vision lenses as they aren’t great with varifocals, thinning etc.

Best thing I ever did too!

It's OK, I understood what you were saying.
My prescription is far too complicated to trust an online provider. The mid range lenses in my glasses from my local independent optician are better quality than the top of the range ones I had from Specsavers, and I'm not sure I would get as a good a quality from Asda.

I suspect that most posters on this thread don't have complicated prescriptions.

@RampantIvy I don’t think the lenses are the same quality. I have prisms in mine and they are complicated! I’ve got to the stage where not much is changing and I don’t need new glasses every 2 years. I don’t want poor quality lenses and I accept I pay for decent ones! I and DH get expensive frames re lensed too. DH has Tom Davies and has had new lenses in them.

That’s interesting - my prescription is quite high -6ish and the thin lenses are quite expensive at specsavers

Laser is only helpful for about 10 years, I am back to the start now

Another tip if you want to try on lots of frames…

I did this in specsavers, picked Chanel ones that I loved, took a picture of the name/numbers on the inside of the leg and found the same frames on a website for one of the online opticians and uploaded my prescription.

got the Chanel ones for £159 instead of £290 - obvs other brands would be cheaper

I was told that what laser corrects is forever BUT that other problems do come up as you age and no one can prevent that.

Regardless, 10 years of almost perfect vision is incredible!

I agree that glasses can be incredibly expensive if you need a strong prescription particularly if you have an astigmatism. I use a separate pair of glasses for distance and reading. I don't know if it is cheaper overall though particularly as I then also have prescription sunglasses. Online is no good really if you have an astigmatism and a strong prescription. I need the glasses to be properly measured.

I save up all year to afford my specs. I paid £600 for just the lenses last year plus £140 for the frames, I always choose the cheapest frames I can find. As I have complex lenses I get a contribution from the NHS towards the cost of £40.97 which is just a drop in the ocean. I have to pay for extra thin lenses otherwise they're so thick I can't wear them as they won't fit on the bridge of my nose. My prescription is too powerful for all the cheap the deals you see advertised and my eyesight too poor to be fixed by laser surgery so I just have to suck it up.

I get my varifocals from Firmoo. They usually have a BOGOF plus 30% off lenses offer, so two pairs for well under £100 usually. I go to Specsavers/Vision Express etc to try on frames to get an idea of the style I want, and make a note of the measurements on the SS/VE website to compare against Firmoo.

They're also absolutely brilliant if you don't like your glasses for whatever reason. Even if the style/colour isn't quite right. They immediately give you a voucher to order a other pair to the same value.

I started using them in the pandemic when my glasses broke and I couldn't get to an optician and I haven't looked back. I get my eyes tested every two years and just use the prescription at Firmoo.

She offered. Took 2 mins of her time.

In fact the light I gave her to the airport took much longer