Best reasonably priced place/person for eye exam and prescription glasses? (Raleigh: eyeglasses, how much) - Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary - North Carolina (NC) -The Triangle Area - City-Data Forum

joey2000 · 10-24-2009, 03:53 PM

God help me but I've even toyed w/going to that place in wal-mart - my eyes are pretty straightforward (near sighted) and haven't changed much in years - but would consider other options. Basically I don't need or want $200+ glasses. Thx

danadana · 10-24-2009, 04:22 PM

All the optometrists located next to retail stores are independent. I would get a pair of glasses from Target or Costco. I would lean more towards Costco. Target optical is now part of Lenscrafters. Their frame quality has gone downhill.

lovebrentwood · 10-24-2009, 06:13 PM

Go to Costco in Raleigh at Six Forks and go to the independent eye doctor there (to the left of the front door). It's $65.

Ask that the pupillary distance be written on the prescription.

Go to ZenniOptical.com and pick out one of hundreds of incredible glasses that are just as good or better then you'll see anywhere else. You can get a good pair for $50. With all the bells and whistles, it'll probably be hard to top $100.

I did it last year, and I bought four pairs of glasses, all great. I just went to Costco a few days ago for my eye exam, and one eye is now BETTER (how weird is that?), so I need a new prescription, and I'll order glasses from Zenni. The eye doctor growled, "Good luck with that," but if you research it, you'll find it's EXCELLENT.

Just make sure you enter the prescription properly in the online form.

saturnfan · 10-24-2009, 06:22 PM

Dr Miller next to Lenscrafters in North Hills is great. Extra discount for AAA members.

Zenni is a great idea. most frames are Chinese trash so why pay a lot for them.

joey2000 · 10-25-2009, 12:26 AM

Thx all. Not a member of costco though. I'll check the others..

PDXmom · 10-25-2009, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovebrentwood

Go to ZenniOptical.com and pick out one of hundreds of incredible glasses that are just as good or better then you'll see anywhere else. You can get a good pair for $50. With all the bells and whistles, it'll probably be hard to top $100.

Just one question... how do you know what they will look like on your face before you get them? I'm one of those people who selection 10 pair to try on and I'm lucky if 1 looks good. Any tips other than finding a pair at Target or Costco then locating the exact pair online? Is there an application to scan your photo in and see how a particular frame looks on you???

Thanks.

lovebrentwood · 10-25-2009, 06:24 PM

I needed trifocals, so I knew I would need a bigger frame, so I bought big glasses. Zenni will give an appropriate error message if the frames you select don't support the frames you need (such as bifocal or trifocal).

HOWEVER -- if I were you, I'd visit Walmart or any other place that sells lenses and try on a few until you find one you like. There really aren't that many variations in eyeglasses. You might want to try to measure the size of the lenses you try on and compare them to ZenniOptical glasses.

I bought some non-standard glasses last year because I was so happy to find something different. But this time, I think I'm going to just get some lightweight rimless glasses (there are several styles on ZenniOptical). You really can't go wrong with that style. You don't have to worry too much about the frame color. It's not that big a factor with rimless frames.

There may be advice online for face shapes and eyeglass shapes. I think I remember if you have round features, a squarish frame is good, if you have sharp features, a round frame is okay. Who knows.

In a quick Google search, I found this: Eyeglass Frames That Match Your Face Shape and Coloring

If you're really nervous about buying glasses online, then maybe the extra $400 or $500 might be worth it to you. (If I had that extra $$$, I'd think of a whole lot of other uses for it.)

If you Google "eyeglass frames and face shape" you'll find more information that you probably ever wanted to know.

This is an excellent one: http://www.framesdirect.com/face-shape.asp

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDXmom

Just one question... how do you know what they will look like on your face before you get them? I'm one of those people who selection 10 pair to try on and I'm lucky if 1 looks good. Any tips other than finding a pair at Target or Costco then locating the exact pair online? Is there an application to scan your photo in and see how a particular frame looks on you???

Thanks.

adlnc07 · 10-25-2009, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovebrentwood

If you're really nervous about buying glasses online, then maybe the extra $400 or $500 might be worth it to you. (If I had that extra $$$, I'd think of a whole lot of other uses for it.)

Geez.. I've never spent more than $200 on eyeglasses, even before I belonged to Costco! Just have to shop around, and don't go for the crazy expensive frames. I keep meaning to try one of the online places, although I mostly wear contacts so the one pair of glasses I have is fine.

lovebrentwood · 10-25-2009, 06:40 PM

Basic, cheap, really ugly trifocal glasses at Walmart would have cost me $400. Instead, I spent $50 at Zenni.

adlnc07 · 10-25-2009, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovebrentwood

Basic, cheap, really ugly trifocal glasses at Walmart would have cost me $400. Instead, I spent $50 at Zenni.

Well, next time I'm at Costco I'll check to see how much they charge for trifocals. It could be that it's worth joining to just buy glasses! But then again the OP is just looking for single vision lenses - can't hurt to check Walmart prices.