Frames for less: Should you buy your specs online?

By Vincent Graff
Updated: 02:12 EDT, 20 May 2008

Glasses could be cheaper online...but may cause blurred vision

When I first arrived at school, I assumed my world was pretty much the same as that of every other four-year-old  -  except in one respect: my life was played out from behind a dense fog.

It was only when the school nurse gave me my first eye test that I discovered the universe had sharp edges. Without knowing it, I'd been long-sighted since birth.

As the old joke goes, if I wanted to be able to read anything, I'd need strong glasses or extra-long arms.

When an optician gave me my first pair of spectacles  -  a pair of standard-issue brown NHS frames with thick plastic lenses and curled metal earpieces that resembled coathanger hooks  -  I was thrilled.

I loved my specs then . . . and I love them now. I had a brief flirtation with contact lenses at university, but we never got on.

One thing I do not like about glasses, though, is the cost. An optician recently wanted to charge me more than £350 for a pair: £190 for the frame and a further £175 for the lenses. Sure, they were a designer name and beautiful. But the experience got me wondering: do glasses need to cost so much?

These days, the answer is no, thanks to the internet optician. It's possible to buy a pair of prescription glasses for just £15.

That's not off-the-shelf reading glasses, but spectacles specifically made for your eyes.

Even designer frames from the likes of Gucci and Hugo Boss are available  -  for around a quarter of the price on the High Street.

All you have to do is pay for your eyes to be tested on the High Street  -  it cost me £25  -  then walk away with a copy of your prescription and e-mail it over to someone who'll make your glasses up for a fraction of the cost.

It's important, of course, you don't miss out on the eye test. For a start, your prescription may have changed since your last one. But, even more importantly, an optometrist is able to pick up a host of conditions, such as glaucoma or cataracts.

But is it embarrassing to have your eyes tested and leave without buying a pair of glasses?

I was worried that it would be. After all, the eye test is seen as a way to entice you into purchasing a pair of glasses. The opticians is a shop  -  therefore designed to sell you something.

But, in fact, I needn't have worried. When I asked my optician for my prescription, she dutifully wrote down my details without raising an eyebrow.

But how can you be sure that the online seller will make up your prescription correctly?

And if you can't try them on in the shop, how do you know the frames will suit and fit your face?

The websites go to huge lengths to try to allay your fears. Some offer virtual mirrors, which allow you to superimpose glasses frames on to a photograph of your own face.

Others let you borrow frames for free, before going ahead with your lens order.

I decided to try out several companies and ordered five pairs. The glasses varied from bottom-of-the-range specs that cost £15 a pair to ultra-cool Gucci glasses that came in at £130  -  around 60 per cent less than they'd cost at a High Street optician.

I already had my prescription, but before I could order the spectacles, I had to get my pupillary distance (PD)  -  the gap, in millimetres, between your two pupils  -  which, annoyingly, is not written on your prescription.

This ensures that the optical centre of the lens coincides with the centre of your eyes. Get it wrong and the vision from your glasses is likely to be uncomfortable, causing headaches.

Some websites ask you to get a friend to measure your PD  -  which I did. A proper check later confirmed my friend was pretty much spot on. Others will estimate this for you, based on your gender and age. In these cases, as part of the experiment, I went with the company's guess.

So, what were my new glasses like? I showed each pair to three experts: Geoff Roberson, of the Association of Optometrists; Elaine Grisdale, of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians; and independent optician Marc Karbaron, of Optix at Broadgate, London.

Good Health then rated them according to value for money and functionality. All prices include postage and packaging.

www.spex4less.com £129.84

This Bolton-based internet retailer offers a 'total refund guarantee- -  your money back 'even if you don't like the colour'.

So I decide to push the boat out and go for a smart Gucci frame, with 'free' anti-reflective and anti-scratch lenses.

The total cost is at least £20 less than a High Street optician would charge for the frames alone. The company says it will guess my PD.

EXPERTS' VERDICT: This frame is high quality, as you'd expect from Gucci. The lenses have anti-reflective coatings and appear to be scratch-resistant. The lenses also appear to be high quality and they are a good price. However, the left lens is the wrong strength and Vincent's astigmatism not been dealt with correctly. Plus, the PD is wrong by 10 per cent. These two mistakes could give Vincent headaches.

MY VERDICT: I love the frames, but the vision is not as clear as with my usual glasses. I will take-up the no-quibble guarantee and have the lenses re-made.

RATING: 4/10

www.speckyfoureyes.com £15.50

I go for the cheapest option  - £15.50, which includes frames, lenses and postage and packaging. There's a choice of two metal-rimmed frames, in seven colours.

Most opticians recommend lenses made of ultra-thin plastic with anti-reflective coatings  -  but at this price these glasses have neither.

EXPERTS' VERDICT: The frame is of reasonable quality, though a little lopsided. This could affect Vincent's vision, if he's not looking through the optical centre of the glasses  -  i.e. his pupils are not in the correct position behind the lens.

Taking the glasses for a £20 fitting at a High Street optician could solve the problem.

The lenses are the right strength, but the astigmatism correction differs slightly from the prescription. 'I'd say these cost Vincent about £80,' says Marc. He is shocked by the real price.

MY VERDICT: Any difference between my prescription and the lenses is too small for me to notice. The vision is as good as with my current glasses, though the frames are not as stylish and feel more flimsy. But they would make a perfect spare set.

RATING: 7/10

www.glasses2you.co.uk £28.50

This time I choose a pair of black plastic frames similar to my current glasses. I do not purchase an anti-reflective coating, which would have cost a further £15.

EXPERTS' VERDICT: These frames fit Vincent's face better than some of the other ones and are sturdier than the cheapest. But his astigmatism has not been corrected properly in the left eye, which could lead to bad vision and headaches.

MY VERDICT: These spectacles are attractive to look at. But while the frames are fantastic value, my vision is not as good as I'm used to.

RATING: 4/10


www.globaleyeglasses.com £15.26

These half-rimmed metal frames, sold by a New York-based company were the cheapest glasses I found. I spent more on postage ($15) than I did on the spectacles ($14.98).

EXPERTS' VERDICT: These are a dreadful pair. The prescription is quite a long way out. It is eight degrees askew on Vincent's astigmatism correction, so his astigmatism has not been corrected properly in the right lens.

The frame is out of shape, is exceptionally weak and the lens distorts at the side as it's been screwed in too tightly.

MY VERDICT: A waste of £15. These glasses are so flimsy I worry they'd blow off on a windy day. The vision is poor. Useless.

RATING: 1/10

www.eyeglassframes4less.com £91.08

This U.S.-based firm sells its frames through eBay  -  though you have to buy the lenses directly from the optician who runs the company, as eBay forbids the sale of medical items.

I ordered a pair of designer Oliver Peoples frames that I tried on in my local optician. Even with a high index (i.e. thinner) plastic lens and with anti-reflective coating, the whole package cost just $178.90 (£91.08). My local retailer quoted £365.

EXPERTS' VERDICT: A good quality frame, but the lenses are not quite as prescribed: the left lens is slightly more powerful than it ought to be and the astigmatism is undercorrected. But Vincent may not notice this, as it affects his weaker eye, which is less able to notice small differences.

MY VERDICT: These glasses took the longest to arrive  -  a month  -  and the retailer was not very responsive to e-mail inquiries.

Despite the apparent discrepancy from my prescription, the vision appears perfect to me. I love these specs. At a quarter of the price I'd pay on the High Street, they are a hit.
RATING: 8/10

AND THE LESSON IS. . .

It quickly became clear that there are two options for getting the best out of cheaper online glasses. One is to opt for a similar frame to your current pair. The cheeky one is to try on glasses at a High Street retailer and search for the same product on the internet.

Yet there are two complications. A spokesman for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs says that purchasers are liable to pay 17.5per cent VAT on any glasses bought from abroad. In reality, of course, the most of this tax goes uncollected.

Also, none of the pairs arrived fitting my head perfectly. So be prepared to visit a High Street optician to get them fitted properly. Most places charge a fitting fee of up to £20.