You buy your glasses at the eye doctor? That’s so 1999.

I know I make a lot of posts about finding deals online. What can I say? I’m a bargain girl. But lately, the subject of glasses has come up a lot. The necessary evil. Glasses are one of those things you have to have in order to see but they cost a lot. Most people will simply purchase the most affordable/nicest looking pair from their doctor’s office and then be stuck with them for years — until their next appointment and they get a new prescription or until they break. This sucks.

First of all, glasses are a fashion accessory besides being a necessity. You should be able to have multiple pairs to wear in different situations/with different outfits.

Don't get stuck with a pair of these for the next four years because you paid $180 for them and thought they looked ironically cool at the time you tried them on.

Second, you should always have a back up pair in case of the inevitable: You sit on them, you step on them, you drop them, you lose them behind the mattress in a night of passion, whatever.

A few months back, I had a major prescription overhaul. I apparently went from astigmatism but basically able to see without glasses to oh my God why are you driving you’re totally blind you’re going to kill us all. Anyway, after the doc gave me the little paper saying I have broken eyeballs, I skipped out of there, waving goodbye to the sad glasses sales lady.

From the warm glow of my monitor, I then purchased these bad boys:
How much? $100? No. $60? No. $35? No. $20? No, no, no. Wait for it…$8 (plus a little shipping). I get compliments and am asked a lot about where I got them (and the pair I had before) and people seem surprised I got them online. A lot of people have heard of the good deals on glasses online but I think they feel it’s too good to be true and stick with the old school methods. But I am here today to tell you that I have used two different online sites and have been completely satisfied and completely not scammed.

The site I bought this most recent pair from is http://www.zennioptical.com/. Their glasses range in price from $8 to about $30 and that includes the prescription. There are extra charges for bifocals, adding tint, transitions and other special things but who needs that stuff.

I know the site looks a bit sketch, I mean what’s up with this guy?

Sup, guys? Don't mind me I'm just a throwback to Geocities.

But it is completely legit. Shipping takes about three weeks and I’d suggest for your first order to just get one pair to make sure you got your prescription right and everything. But after that, go hog wild.

Now, I can already hear the whiners out there. “But, you don’t get to try them oooon!” Bah, for $8 or even $30 you can afford to take a risk when you compare it to the hundreds of dollars you’ll spend on A PAIR at the eye doctor. They have a range of styles so there’s really something for everyone. If you’re still apprehensive, another site I have used http://www.optical4less.com/ has a neat uploader where you can upload a picture of yourself to get an idea of what the glasses would look like on your face:

I don't think this is the pair for you, my friend but bless you for trying.

Optical4Less is a bit pricier (still a million times cheaper than the physical store) but still legitimate. I prefer Zenni though because of their wide selection.

So what are you waiting for? Oh, you have 20/20 vision. @_@