My daughter often introduces me to new products she's tried and loved. This summer Tiffany told me about a website called Zenni that sells very reasonably priced prescription glasses. She said her single vision glasses cost her just $39.
I was really dubious, but I decided to try it out. I'd just changed the lens only on my Costco bifocal glasses for $146.59 so I already had my pupillary distance on the paper they'd given me.
The Zenni site has you input your photo so you can try out glasses online. Actually that was rather a lot of fun.
They also give you instructions on how to measure your pupillary distance if you don't have that measurement.
I was glad I already had that information from the Costco receipt because they measured my eyes for me.
Well, the glasses were cheap, but then I added Transition and anti-reflective coating and the price did jump to $88.85. This was only a single vision lens for distance. But that was all, plus a bit for shipping.
I thought that was pretty darn reasonable since it included the frame.
I couldn't wait for it to arrive.
It didn't take long. It arrived in a little over a week and I thought the quality was quite decent. I compared the lens to the Costco glasses I'd bought the week before and they appeared similar.
My sister-in-law said she preferred sunglasses because the Costco Transition lens didn't darken enough.
I used the Costco glasses today and she was right. It doesn't darken a whole lot and I was still getting a glare. Nothing horrible, but it wasn't perfect.
I thought I'd try an experiment.
I took both glasses outside and put them on white paper.
The Costco glasses are on top. The Zennis are at the bottom.
The Zenni glasses did get darker.
Very interesting...
I'm trying to persuade Art to get new glasses, but he says he doesn't need one.
Hmmm... Granted, since my far vision is actually pretty good, my friends did ask me why I needed another pair.
Ummmmm.....
I was really dubious, but I decided to try it out. I'd just changed the lens only on my Costco bifocal glasses for $146.59 so I already had my pupillary distance on the paper they'd given me.
The Zenni site has you input your photo so you can try out glasses online. Actually that was rather a lot of fun.
They also give you instructions on how to measure your pupillary distance if you don't have that measurement.
I was glad I already had that information from the Costco receipt because they measured my eyes for me.
Well, the glasses were cheap, but then I added Transition and anti-reflective coating and the price did jump to $88.85. This was only a single vision lens for distance. But that was all, plus a bit for shipping.
I thought that was pretty darn reasonable since it included the frame.
I couldn't wait for it to arrive.
It didn't take long. It arrived in a little over a week and I thought the quality was quite decent. I compared the lens to the Costco glasses I'd bought the week before and they appeared similar.
My sister-in-law said she preferred sunglasses because the Costco Transition lens didn't darken enough.
I used the Costco glasses today and she was right. It doesn't darken a whole lot and I was still getting a glare. Nothing horrible, but it wasn't perfect.
I thought I'd try an experiment.
I took both glasses outside and put them on white paper.
The Costco glasses are on top. The Zennis are at the bottom.
The Zenni glasses did get darker.
Very interesting...
I'm trying to persuade Art to get new glasses, but he says he doesn't need one.
Hmmm... Granted, since my far vision is actually pretty good, my friends did ask me why I needed another pair.
Ummmmm.....




I cannot wait to look into this. Thanks again for passing on some good information.
ReplyDeleteI use bifocals. Do they do bifocals?
ReplyDeleteYes they do.
DeleteI tried this site some years ago. I really like the glasses frame, but I could not wear the glasses at all. I do have a very complicated prescription. My sister-in-law is an optician and she knew immediately what was off with one look at them on me. I just get my glasses from her now. She is also very talented at picking frames that will go with my face so I stick with her, and would for that reason alone.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay! I've been curious about this
ReplyDeleteThe Costco lenses will darken over time.
ReplyDeleteMy sister uses this place and is very happy with her glasses. Once I get my eyes done and some time has passed, I'll see about getting new glasses for distance. Thanks for the information about how you felt about them, Kay. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou should write for Consumer Reports!
ReplyDeleteIf they do bifocals, I might check them out. I paid close to $400 for my last pair.
ReplyDeleteThey do.
DeleteIt seems like quite a marketing plan.
ReplyDeletenew glasses are always fun...
ReplyDeleteI used to have transitions many moons ago, and I'd get "Why are you wear sunglasses inside" where nobody realizes it takes awhile for it to go back to normal
ReplyDeleteGreat to know about this new site!
ReplyDeleteGood to know! I think I am due for new glasses and I wanted ones that transition, from Costco. The pair I bought before was from Hugo Higa in Honolulu - EXpensive even with insurance. And then he tried to talk me into cosmetic surgery, lol. No thanks. I like getting older looking and becoming more invisible.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who buys from Zenni so that she can have a selection of glasses to coordinate with different clothes she wears.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I wonder what the cost would be for no line bifocals. I find that just darkening glasses do not help much with glare. I have to use polarized clip ons.
ReplyDeleteI paid close to $400 for my last pair.
ReplyDeletegay