Who has good prices for contact lenses?

[kdabbler]

At my vision check up, I heard the desk rep admit that you can get a better price for contact lenses online. Where?

Also, given shipping charges if I order online, would Costco be comparable?:

[Valkyrie9]

I've never tried to buy by mail--I get mine at CostCo and am pretty satisfied with the discount there vs. getting them through my doctor's office.

[cravenab00]

1-800-contacts is good, 1800contacts.com
but wal-mart vision center is by far the cheapest i've seen personally. but i need touric lenses.

[amandaleigh37]

I've always found the cheapest to be visiondirect.com - if you search for coupons they always have them, and usually free shipping. Also once you sign up on their website you get emails and postcards in the mail all the time with coupons..

[mrscompgeek]

Personally I have never been able to find my contacts cheaper at 1800contacts.com then at my Dr. In fact they are the same price plus I have to pay shipping from 1800contacts. So I am not impressed with 1800contacts.

[klosmom]

not impressed with 1800contacts either. though sometimes you can order from them without having to visit the dr. so no check up fee. Clark Howard (financial radio personality) says places like costco and sam's are cheapest. Our sams just opened so I haven't been ther to check.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by klosmom

not impressed with 1800contacts either. though sometimes you can order from them without having to visit the dr. so no check up fee. Clark Howard (financial radio personality) says places like costco and sam's are cheapest. Our sams just opened so I haven't been ther to check.

You have to have a valid prescription, and they contact your doctor to verify, so you don't really save the doctor's visit fee. You still have to visit the doctor to get your eyes checked and get your prescription.

[raingyrl]

I ordered here and was happy with them. I went for an exam, got my prescription, and then ordered 2 years worth of contacts!!! Cheaper and I knew I'd be broke after having a baby.

[baileyandmikey]

Walgreens does on line contacts, and thier prices seem really good.

[Dar]

Costco. I know they're way cheaper than WalMart vision centers, and when I comparison shopped them against the order-by-mail places they were also quite a bit cheaper.

Dar

[bellabear]

When I started ordering cl's on the internet. I used 1800 contacts. Then, I used lens.com which was reallly cheap for me. My last order was at shoplens.com and was even cheaper than lens.com...by $80!!! I have astigmatism, so my cl's are expensive, but I got them really cheap )I also bought enough for a 2 year supply).

[kdabbler]

Last time I did the research, 1800contacts were the same price as my doctor's. I've never heard of the other places. I'm doing my Costco run today so I'll bring my prescription along. Like several of you, I have astigmatism so they're never off the shelf for me.

Keep the recs coming as I haven't ordered them yet. Thanks

[leavemealone]

Costco has been cheapest for me. Sometimes, they have coupons or rebates for money off if you buy a certain amount of boxes at once. They have something for Acuvue right now.

I officially have an astigmatism in one eye, but it's not very bad. I was buying special lenses for it until one dr said to try a regular lens in that eye. If I look through only that eye, I don't see as well as if I would if I looked through only the other eye. Together, my vision is fine so the dr has kept me on a regular lens since then and I haven't had any problems. If you only have a slight astigmatism in one eye, this may be an option to ask your dr about but if you have it in both eyes (or it's severe) it may not be an option.

[kdabbler]

Originally Posted by ferrum97

If you only have a slight astigmatism in one eye, this may be an option to ask your dr about but if you have it in both eyes (or it's severe) it may not be an option.

Unfortunately, its not an option for me. It used to be that I could use the same prescription for both eyes. After Costco told me that it will take at least a week to get them from the manufacturer, I decided to order a set. Since I'm still waiting on my eyeglasses, I thought ordering the contacts would hedge my bets.

Cost me a little under $25 per box of six lenses. So $50 for about 12 weeks worth of wear.

[Flor]

Originally Posted by llamalluv

You have to have a valid prescription, and they contact your doctor to verify, so you don't really save the doctor's visit fee. You still have to visit the doctor to get your eyes checked and get your prescription.

But, I could get some at the docs and some at 1800contacts, so , I could get more than a year's worth. Plus, 1800contacts contacted my doc, but the doc didn't respond, so they assume its ok and sent me the contacts. The price was the same, and I got free shipping, but when I go to get them at the docs, it takes 2-3 weeks for them to get them in, and I'm just not that organized. They came in the mail in 2 days.

[bellabear]

Originally Posted by ferrum97

Costco has been cheapest for me. Sometimes, they have coupons or rebates for money off if you buy a certain amount of boxes at once. They have something for Acuvue right now.

I officially have an astigmatism in one eye, but it's not very bad. I was buying special lenses for it until one dr said to try a regular lens in that eye. If I look through only that eye, I don't see as well as if I would if I looked through only the other eye. Together, my vision is fine so the dr has kept me on a regular lens since then and I haven't had any problems. If you only have a slight astigmatism in one eye, this may be an option to ask your dr about but if you have it in both eyes (or it's severe) it may not be an option.

It's $14 a box for me a shoplens.com and I have astigmatism, too. I also wear mine longer than the two weeks I'm supposed to Have never had a problem.

[Golden]

i use lenscrafters at the mall for my eye visit. I ordered the contacts through them. They were maybe 25 more? They price match though. I brought in a print out of what I would need from lens.com (I think) and they matched it, and then they shipped to my house for free.

[kdabbler]

Originally Posted by bellabear

It's $14 a box for me a shoplens.com and I have astigmatism, too. I also wear mine longer than the two weeks I'm supposed to Have never had a problem.

Soflens.com is the same price as Costco if you buy the single box like I did. The real savings comes if you buy in quantity and use the rebate. The price is truly jaw dropping. When its time to reorder, I'll definitely check them out. I wonder if they would cut me a deal if I bought a total of 8 boxes but got 4 boxes of each prescription?

ETA: I sometimes wear mine longer than two weeks too. However, if they get noticeably itchy, I'll switch them out.

[leavemealone]

Originally Posted by bellabear

It's $14 a box for me a shoplens.com and I have astigmatism, too. I also wear mine longer than the two weeks I'm supposed to Have never had a problem.

So lenses for astigmatism aren't that much more expensive than regular lenses? When I wore them, they were way more expensive, but it has been about 10 years since I last priced them. If they are less expensive, that is good to know in case I ever need/want to go back to using one.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by Flor

But, I could get some at the docs and some at 1800contacts, so , I could get more than a year's worth. Plus, 1800contacts contacted my doc, but the doc didn't respond, so they assume its ok and sent me the contacts. The price was the same, and I got free shipping, but when I go to get them at the docs, it takes 2-3 weeks for them to get them in, and I'm just not that organized. They came in the mail in 2 days.

A prescription is usually valid for one year, but my prescribers have always set them at two years. The maximum period of time I would go between visits to the eye doctor is two years. I need a tweak to my glasses by then.

Women have the added pleasure of having hormones mess with their eyes during pregnancy, nursing, and menopause.

There really is no savings to buying a decade worth of lenses at once, if they no longer work after 3-4 years. And there is no cost savings in not going to the eye doctor for regular exams, if the result is undiagnosed glaucoma or macular degeneration.