How To Buy Contact Lenses Online
All websites aren't created equal. Here's how to decide where to purchase online.
By Liz Segre
See also:
Ordering contact lenses online can be very convenient: it takes just a few clicks of your mouse. But before ordering online,
consider whether it's really the best option for you. Optical stores, your eye doctor, and mass merchants also
sell contact lenses. Is one of those a better option? To find out, read
"Where's the Best Place to Buy Contact Lenses?"
If you're ready to purchase online, the first thing to know is that there are dozens of online contact lens sellers.
But they are not all created equal.
Even when a website looks credible, it's sometimes hard to know who is behind it. Internet contact lens sellers
range from large, publicly traded companies like 1-800 Contacts and Wal-Mart to back-room operations with no full-time
staff. Although smaller operators may publicize attractive prices on their websites, they may not offer the service
and selection you're looking for. Some have little or no inventory, and may buy lenses from the manufacturer only
after you place an order.
Using Online Shopping Sites
You can compare prices from Internet contact lens sellers by using price-comparison websites such as BizRate,
MySimon, Shopping.com, Froogle and Yahoo! Shopping. Entering a brand name will
pull up listings with prices, as well as links to the seller.
The downsides: All sellers may not be included, and listings may not reflect recent price changes, specials, or
availability. The per-box prices listed usually factor in high-volume discounts (such as for a year's supply of lenses). But
if you're ordering only a three-month supply, you'll probably pay a higher per-box price than what's shown on the
price-comparison site.
Also, prices can be hard to compare because sometimes they include rebates, and sometimes they don't;
and these sites don't always allow you to compare shipping costs, which can vary significantly.
The advantage of price-comparison sites is that they may introduce you to sellers that you wouldn't otherwise
have found. Plus and this is a big benefit they often include user reviews to help you judge
unfamiliar sellers.
Comparing Contact Lens Sellers
Among contact lens sellers, size matters, for two reasons:
- Larger contact sellers can be in a better position to get your lenses to you quickly,
because they stock a lot of lenses. For example, 1-800 Contacts the largest mail-order
seller says that its inventory is more than 20 million lenses.
- You want to be sure that the company you buy from will be in business tomorrow, in
case you need to return or exchange product, or have difficulty with a credit card transaction.
The company you select doesn't have to be huge you just want to make sure you're not
doing business with a basement operation. And bear in mind that if you have an unusual prescription,
even a high-volume seller may not stock your particular lenses. Since contact lenses come in millions
of combinations of power, curvature, and diameter, no company can stock every prescription.
|