Buying eyeglasses online

The last time I went to an optometrist to check my eyes was at least three years ago when I went back to Taiwan.  Buying a pair of prescription eyeglasses in Taiwan is not only easy with many choices but also cheaper than in the States.  Since I had my Lasik done five years ago I though I no longer needed to wear glasses. 

Not true.  Maybe I am getting old, but I noticed my eyesight is somewhat regressing over the past five years after the Lasik.  I am still ok during the daytime but the nighttime driving is getting to me.  I have a hard time to read road signs from far away but by the time I see what the road sign says I already missed the turn. 

Finally, I said to myself that I need to find an optometrist to check my eyes.  Luckily, one of friend referred me to her doctor when I was telling her about my eyes.  I went to Family Eye Care on Hamilton Ave in Campbell to see Dr. Larry Wan for a full eye checkup.  He is very nice and knowledgeable.  We had a fun time talking about Photography.  In the end, he gave me several options – wear contact lenses, do a Lasik touch up, or wear eyeglasses.  Since I can’t wear contact lenses, which is one of the reason for me to do Lasik, and Lasik is too expensive for just a touch up, I choose to wear eyeglasses.

I went to the Valley Fair Shopping Mall to check on a few eyeglass stores to see what my options are for frames and how much it would cost for prescription lenses.  It would cost me around US$500 for a pair of prescription eyeglasses before tax.  I thought it was more than I am willing to pay for simple nighttime eyeglasses and I thought I could wait until I go back to Taiwan at the end of the year.  However, I did write down the information on the frames I was interested in and went home to do more research to see what my other options might be.  I buy a lot of stuff online but buying a pair of prescription eyeglasses online never came to mind. 

When I was surfing around I found three online eyeglass stores selling the ones I like when I tried them in the mall – DecorMyEyes, BestBuyEyeglasses, PopularGlasses.  Then I went to BizRate and other websites to see the user reviews so I can get a better idea of those online stores.  To me, service will be the most important thing, and then it’s about the price so after comparison I choose to make my order through PopularGlasses ($310).  I placed an order on March 14 and received my glasses on March 27, which was two weeks.  I wish the time was shorter but I am happy with the glasses.  They are exactly what I ordered and well packaged.

I am glad that my first online eyeglasses shopping experience was good.  One thing I would like to remind you if you are going to buy a pair of prescription eyeglasses online is to ask your Doctor about your Pupillary Distance (PD) number.  A good prescription should have 4 numbers for both eyes - SPHERE, CYL, AXIS and PD; otherwise, you can ask your family member to help you measure it for you.