Prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses for under $150? Yes, please!

 

During the Summer of 2010, I developed terrible itchy, red, watery allergy eyes, which came back with a vengeance in July and August of 2011. Now I’m not a huge fan of allergy pills because even the ones that are labeled “non-drowsy” tend to make me drowsy and when I tried the pills, they honestly didn’t seem to help my eyes. So I relied on over-the-counter eye drops (something my eye doctor now tells me I shouldn’t use because they constrict the blood vessels and over time only make the situation worse) and a cold wet compress at night to alleviate my suffering. The fact that I wore contact lenses only aggravated the situation. I refused to wear my eyeglasses at work because even though they were very stylish Furla eyeglasses, I felt self-conscious in them. Besides, I didn’t have prescription sunglasses, so the minute I left the office and into the hostile environment of attacking allergens, I was also blinded by the scorching sun.

For two Summers I suffered every July through the beginning of September with gross, oozing, puffy allergy eyes. This past Summer though, I was prepared! My original plan was to save up money, go to the eye doctor, buy prescription sunglasses, save up a little more money, then have new lenses put into my old eyeglass frames. I try to save money, I really do, but I’m just not very good at it. Honestly, I was not going on crazy shopping sprees, I was just still trying to pay off my 30th birthday gift to myself, a week long vacation in Puerto Rico.

Come June, I realized that allergy season was here and I might not be able to execute my plan in time to save myself and those around me from my gross allergy eyes. For whatever reason, the topic of prescription sunglasses came up during a car ride with my boyfriend on our way to a party at his colleague’s house. He started to tell me about this website where you could get glasses cheap online, but he couldn’t remember the name of the site. I poo-pooed him saying that I had a website too and while the frames were cheaper, the lenses were still expensive. He persisted and told me that a lot of people at his office used this site and the company would send you five frames to try on for five days, that shipping for the home-try-on was free both ways and that the glasses were really cheap, like under $150 each cheap. Now he had my attention!

A woman he works with who ordered  her glasses from this website was at the party and had really cute frames! So we asked her the name of the company. “Warby Parker,” she said  (www.warbyparker.com). Mike made a note of it on his iphone because I would screw the name up and try googling “Wallaby Parker” or something similar. She told me all about Warby Parker and her wonderful experience. I didn’t even wait until I got home to look them up, I googled it on my iphone and read about how Warby Parker works and how they are able to offer glasses so cheap (part of me was still in disbelief and was sure that my prescription would be too high and it just wouldn’t work out for me or there would be some sort of catch).

 

As I read “Our Story” on warbyparker.com on the ride home, I learned that the reason eyeglass frames are so expensive is because there are only a few large companies that design, manufacture, and even own the companies, such as LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, and Sunglass Hut,  that sell the glasses  (http://www.warbyparker.com/our-story/ ). There are very few companies in the game, so they don’t have to competitively price eye wear and can keep it unreasonably high (“60 Minutes” on CBS just aired a story about the eyeglass company Luxotica and how they have a monopoly on the eye wear industry. To watch the full story, go to:http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424700n&tag=contentMain;contentAux). Warby Parker, however, circumvented this by designing and manufacturing their own glasses. Most of the frames are plastic, but they just recently introduced a line of titanium frames for people who prefer a lighter weight, wire rimmed eye wear. By designing about only 50 or so prescription eyeglasses for both men and women (though many designs are unisex) and 30 or so prescription sunglass frames, and selling directly through their website or a few showrooms in select cities, Warby Parker is able to keep the cost of their eyeglasses and sunglasses low.

So  I set up an appointment with my eye doctor as soon as possible. Once I had my new prescription in hand, I ordered my home-try-on and they arrived about two days later. I decided on a pair and sent the home-try-ons back via U.P.S (postage had already been paid). I e-mailed a photo of my prescription to the designated Warby Parker e-mail address and within about ten days, I had my prescription sunglasses. Simple as that! I then proceeded to go through the same process for prescription eyeglasses! Both the sunglasses and the eyeglasses are amazing quality and super cute. They look as good as the super expensive designer frames that Luxotica produces. The amber lenses on my sunglasses are wonderful. I’ve never had amber lenses before and it’s amazing the way they seem to make all the colors more vibrant, somehow life seems more real! I got two pairs of glasses for under $300 and best of all, for every pair of glasses purchased, Warby Parker donates a pair of eyeglasses! I look stylish and was able to help some one in need! How great is that? My only problem was that my allergies didn’t bother me this summer, so I barely got to wear my prescription sunglasses. Oh well, best laid plans… At least I’ll be prepared next Summer and if my prescription changes by then, I can send my frames back to Warby Parker and they’ll fill it with my new prescription for $50-80 ($100 for sunglasses)!

It was really such an amazing experience from start to finish. Their website is great and helps explain how everything works, customer support was there when I had problems, and it was so much fun to pick out my home-try-on and then show them all to my friends. Being able to get prescription sunglasses and eyeglasses, for less then the price it would have cost me to put new lenses into my old frames, took away so much worry. It was such a relief to be able to afford both glasses without having to save up or ruin my budget! Thank you so much Warby Parker, you made my life so much easier and more fashionable!