A Guide to Buying Contact Lenses
Contact lenses can be expensive and the options are almost endless. How should you begin your search for the best contacts at the best price?
Of course, one option is to just buy the contacts at your eye doctor’s office. However, many of us don’t have contacts covered my insurance, and this could easily be the most expensive option. If you’re willing to do some research, you could cut your costs significantly.
First of all, check your insurance carefully. If you have vision insurance, it might pay for your contacts outright. More likely, your insurance covers a certain amount or percentage of your contacts or of all of your vision expenses during the year. Many of us find out that our vision insurance doesn’t pay for as much as we’d like, so we move on to the next step!
If you have to buy your contacts yourself, there are many different options. Each option has pros and cons.
- Your Eye Doctor
- Pros: Your eye doctor is usually the one who knows you and your eyes best. Your eye doctor may also have some kind of package that includes visits, exams, and contacts or glasses. It is also much easier to get service afterwards if you have problems with contact fitting, etc.
- Cons: Unless you got a special sale, the contacts will likely cost more at your doctor’s office. Also, your doctor may not have the variety of contacts available from other sources.
- Online retailers (1-800-Contacts, Discount Contact Lenses, Frames Direct.com, etc.)
- Pros: Prices can be very low! You can also order unusual prescriptions since you’re not limited to what they have on hand. You can order your contacts from home or work and get them delivered to wherever is convenient for you.
- Cons: Buying anything online can carry some risk, since you don’t know exactly who you’re dealing with. You have to go somewhere else to get an examination and prescription. Also, if you order contacts online and you have problems, it might be hard to get help.
- Coupons: Our Contact lens coupons include 1-800-Contacts coupons ($8 off $80 and rebates up to $80), Discount Contact Lenses Coupons ($5 off $50, $8 of $80 and $10 off $150 + rebates), Frames Direct Coupons ($5 off and a free t-shirt).
- Mass Merchandisers (Wal-Mart, Costco, Sears, etc.)
- Pros: Contacts can be very cheap from retailers like Costco, Wal-Mart and Sears. You can buy contacts as part of your other shopping, as the optical department is usually right next to everything else.
- Cons: Mass merchandisers do a little of everything, so they are not optical experts. Also, they do not tend to be known for their customer service.
- Optical Chains (Lenscrafters, Pearle Vision, etc.):
- Pros: You can get help from any of the chain’s stores, no matter where they are located. If you have a prescription that is not unusual, the chain may have them in stock, which would mean no waiting at all for your prescription! These places can usually offer lower prices because they get discounts for buying in bulk. Also, you’re talking to a real person, as opposed to ordering contacts on the Internet.
- Cons: The chains may not give you the personalized service that your doctor’s office can, and they might not be able to provide prices as low as online retailers can.
- The bottom line is that you have to decide what your priorities are: price, convenience, personal attention, but having so many options for contact lenses means you can save big.
