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How does buying glasses online even work? I have never tried, so I'd expect it to be like buying shoes without trying them on (which I won't do either, based on

by jusssi 4y ago

How does buying glasses online even work? I have never tried, so I'd expect it to be like buying shoes without trying them on (which I won't do either, based on in-store experience I'd be returning 9 pairs out of 10 for bad fit). I wear glasses for 95% of time, I want to not hate how they feel.

RosanaAnaDana 4y ago
you tyoe in your prescription and a week later they appear. if you dont like them, send them back.
- acomjean 4y ago
  I think you also need to measure the distance between your eyes. The only not supper easy part.
  - femto 4y ago
    Measuring Pupillary Distance (PD, or distance between your pupils) is easy! Here's how: 1) Stand in front of a vertical mirror, making sure you are square to the mirror. 2) Place a horizontal ruler on the surface of the mirror. 3) Close one eye and move your head until the reflection of the centre of your pupil lines up with zero on the ruler. 4) Keeping your head still, open your eye and close the other eye. 5) The Pupillary Distance is the reading on the ruler that lines up with the centre of the reflection of your pupil. 6) If you want to double check it, just swap the opening of your eyes and check that the other eye still sees itself at zero. I use this method whenever I order glasses online and have yet to have a pair of glasses that have any error in the manufacturing. I now only buy glasses online.
    - JKCalhoun 4y ago
      Can't read the ruler, too blurry. ;-)
      - tartoran 4y ago
        Use a marker, allign eyes and put on the glasses when measuring:)
      - timbit42 4y ago
        Wear your old glasses when measuring.
    - krageon 4y ago
      Or you get a single eye exam and call it a day. The results will have your PD, which doesn't change.
      - kotaKat 4y ago
        Not every opto is always willing to give you your PD. Some like to beat around the bush because they'd rather try to nudge you into buying in store instead.
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - femto 4y ago
      Further notes: a) The method works because placing the ruler on the surface of the mirror guarantees that it is parallel to the mirror. The source and destination of the light ray is your pupil, so the ray is guranteed to be perpendicular to the mirror and the ruler. b) The plane of your pupils needs to be parallel to the mirror/ruler. This is easy to judge as your eyes will be relaxed and looking straight ahead at your own reflection in the mirror. If your eyes are looking left or right you need to turn your head so you are looking straight ahead. People are generally pretty good at judging "straight ahead", so chances are that you are doing this correctly. Satisfying the above two constraints means the geometry gives an accurate measurement, probably more accurate than an optometrist can judge by holding a ruler up to your eyes and trying to guesstimate that they have no parallax error.
bearmode 4y ago
A lot of online retailers have trial systems, you can try 3 or 4 different pairs for a week before buying them.
walnutclosefarm 4y ago
Yes. Like a charm. Biggest potential hitch is that your optometrist will give you your prescription (they are required by law), but won't include your ocular measurements, which you then have to make yourself at home in order to order the glasses. Get the inter-ocular distance wrong, in particular, and your glasses will not work correctly.
- LorenPechtel 4y ago
  US scripts usually don't include the ocular measurements. I've had a pair where they got the vertical ever so slightly wrong on a progressive, truly horrible, I went back to the eye doc about it and it confounded him also--I could look through the script on his machine and it was fine. He finally figured out what had happened, dialed something into his machine and it was just as awful as the glasses. The optician recut the offending lens, no problem at all. I have no idea how you are even supposed to measure that at home, the opticians always seem to do it on the frame you're actually going to be using. It's not fixed like PD is. (If you're not doing progressive it doesn't have to be spot on, though.)
- bluGill 4y ago
  Hint, when buy glasses ask about swim goggles - they will write down the PD distance (since they don't have swim goggles), and then you can keep that number. You still need to buy one final set of glasses, but you can get their cheap frames and be done.
  - the_d3f4ult 4y ago
    Just ask for your PD. Nobody cares. I'be never heard of anyone sleazy enough to not give this information out.
  - Spivak 4y ago
    This life hack really isn't necessary, you can just ask for your PD distance and they'll bring out a little machine that measures it. No optometrist has ever been weird about it, a few have even told me a few sites to get cheaper glasses.

by jusssi 4y ago

RosanaAnaDana 4y ago

you tyoe in your prescription and a week later they appear. if you dont like them, send them back.

acomjean 4y ago
I think you also need to measure the distance between your eyes. The only not supper easy part.
- femto 4y ago
  Measuring Pupillary Distance (PD, or distance between your pupils) is easy! Here's how: 1) Stand in front of a vertical mirror, making sure you are square to the mirror. 2) Place a horizontal ruler on the surface of the mirror. 3) Close one eye and move your head until the reflection of the centre of your pupil lines up with zero on the ruler. 4) Keeping your head still, open your eye and close the other eye. 5) The Pupillary Distance is the reading on the ruler that lines up with the centre of the reflection of your pupil. 6) If you want to double check it, just swap the opening of your eyes and check that the other eye still sees itself at zero. I use this method whenever I order glasses online and have yet to have a pair of glasses that have any error in the manufacturing. I now only buy glasses online.
  - JKCalhoun 4y ago
    Can't read the ruler, too blurry. ;-)
    - tartoran 4y ago
      Use a marker, allign eyes and put on the glasses when measuring:)
    - timbit42 4y ago
      Wear your old glasses when measuring.
  - krageon 4y ago
    Or you get a single eye exam and call it a day. The results will have your PD, which doesn't change.
    - kotaKat 4y ago
      Not every opto is always willing to give you your PD. Some like to beat around the bush because they'd rather try to nudge you into buying in store instead.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
  - femto 4y ago
    Further notes: a) The method works because placing the ruler on the surface of the mirror guarantees that it is parallel to the mirror. The source and destination of the light ray is your pupil, so the ray is guranteed to be perpendicular to the mirror and the ruler. b) The plane of your pupils needs to be parallel to the mirror/ruler. This is easy to judge as your eyes will be relaxed and looking straight ahead at your own reflection in the mirror. If your eyes are looking left or right you need to turn your head so you are looking straight ahead. People are generally pretty good at judging "straight ahead", so chances are that you are doing this correctly. Satisfying the above two constraints means the geometry gives an accurate measurement, probably more accurate than an optometrist can judge by holding a ruler up to your eyes and trying to guesstimate that they have no parallax error.

bearmode 4y ago

A lot of online retailers have trial systems, you can try 3 or 4 different pairs for a week before buying them.

walnutclosefarm 4y ago

Yes. Like a charm. Biggest potential hitch is that your optometrist will give you your prescription (they are required by law), but won't include your ocular measurements, which you then have to make yourself at home in order to order the glasses. Get the inter-ocular distance wrong, in particular, and your glasses will not work correctly.

LorenPechtel 4y ago
US scripts usually don't include the ocular measurements. I've had a pair where they got the vertical ever so slightly wrong on a progressive, truly horrible, I went back to the eye doc about it and it confounded him also--I could look through the script on his machine and it was fine. He finally figured out what had happened, dialed something into his machine and it was just as awful as the glasses. The optician recut the offending lens, no problem at all. I have no idea how you are even supposed to measure that at home, the opticians always seem to do it on the frame you're actually going to be using. It's not fixed like PD is. (If you're not doing progressive it doesn't have to be spot on, though.)
bluGill 4y ago
Hint, when buy glasses ask about swim goggles - they will write down the PD distance (since they don't have swim goggles), and then you can keep that number. You still need to buy one final set of glasses, but you can get their cheap frames and be done.
- the_d3f4ult 4y ago
  Just ask for your PD. Nobody cares. I'be never heard of anyone sleazy enough to not give this information out.
- Spivak 4y ago
  This life hack really isn't necessary, you can just ask for your PD distance and they'll bring out a little machine that measures it. No optometrist has ever been weird about it, a few have even told me a few sites to get cheaper glasses.