Every year in the United States, over 800,000 people are diagnosed with myopia, or near-sightedness. Slightly fewer, about 250,000 individuals per year, will be told they have far-sightedness, or hypermetropia. Regardless of the type, many of these individuals will need to use some sort of corrective vision product in order to see clearly and comfortably.
However, prescription vision products can be expensive. With lenses and frames, an average prescription can easily cost one to two hundred dollars. For individuals with heavier prescriptions, getting specialty lenses made of thinner material can raise the cost by another several hundred dollars. Then include a few add-ons like anti-glare or scratch-resistant coating, and suddenly, a pair of glasses can cost many hundreds of dollars.
Contact lenses are not much cheaper. There are more options available – daily lenses, weekly lenses or monthly lenses, but a box of lenses generally costs $20-$40 a box and an average person would need several boxes a year. Throw in the expense of contact lens cleaning solution and again, the costs start to quickly add up.
Buying vision care products online can be a great way to shave off some of the costs. Of course, you need to know your prescription. For glasses, you also need to know your frame size and you should have a good idea of what color and style you are looking for. With contact lenses, you need to know the size and shape of your lenses. If you’re uncertain about any of these things, it might be best to visit a traditional retail outlet, at least at first.
But if you have this information in hand, you can easily save some money by shopping online. When shopping online, it is usually simple to find online coupons for contacts and glasses. As well, without the overhead of maintaining a store and retail staff, online sources for glasses and contact lenses tend to be far cheaper, even for the exact same product. 1800contacts.com, for example, stocks all of the major brands for contact lenses and provides all the typical amenities of a traditional retail outlet, such as free returns.
20/20 vision doesn’t have to be expensive. Like clothes, music and many other products nowadays, it is often cheaper to buy online.
Where do you get your prescription vision products?
