In recent times, ordering designer glasses on the internet has developed into an excellent way to make substantial savings over ordering glasses from high-street opticians.
In this article we show how to get the top deal when buying online.
You need your prescription handy before you can begin the ordering process. By law, all optometrists must present you with your prescription information. You are not obliged to make a purchase of frames or contact lenses from the optician that carries out your sight test.
The first thing is to find an online shop by looking on Google for ‘designer glasses’, ‘designer frames’, ‘glasses online’ or a related phrase – you need to experiment a bit.
You will unearth a giant selection of frames presented to you at great prices, and you will find a pair of frames that suits you. If you’re a bit nervous about buying online without trying them on then it’s a good idea if you visit an optician to try on different frames and find the type that suits you best, but to then return home and order online.
Once you’ve found a pair that you like you need to proceed with your order. Have you ever wondered what the row of figures on the inside of your spectacles arms meant – that’s the size label.
Find the size of your existing spectacles by looking on the inside of the arms (you may need a magnifying glass). Inside the arms you should find 3 numbers that look something like this 54[]18 135 which are the specs sizes in millimetres. If you require a pair of glasses with a comparable size to your current ones then choose a pair of frames sized within 1 or 2mm.
You will want to pick the option to indicate if the glasses are for reading or for distance work. You will also want to specify if you want bifocal or varifocal lenses.
Opt to have thinner lenses if you require your eyewear to be lighter and for the lenses to look thinner.
You need to choose which coatings you want. Most suppliers will supply you with a scratch resistant coating as normal, and this is imperative. An anti-reflective coating will help to ease glare when driving at night. A UV400 finish will help to protect your eyes from sun damage.
Put in a colour tint to change your glasses into smart sunglasses. Transition lenses go dark automatically in the sunlight. Choose polarizing lenses for very bright light settings such as those experienced when skiing or fishing.
You don’t need to fully understand your prescription to order online. Just input your particulars into the order form as it’s shown on your prescription.
You will need to insert the ‘pupillary distance’ or PD value. This is the length between the centre of the two pupils. This may or may not be laid out on your prescription and if not the store should show you how to calculate it.
You can proceed to the checkout when you’ve entered all the prescription details.
After submitting your order, sit back and put your feet up. You’ve just saved yourself a lot of hard cash!