There are plenty of options available for anyone who is looking to buy contact lenses – while its best to purchase contact lenses directly from your optician or from a recognized optical chain, some people prefer to do their purchasing from online contact lens stores. As per the law, both online and offline stores are not permitted to sell contacts without a proper and verifiable prescription from an eye doctor. This simply means that the very first thing to do would be to visit a good optician, let him do a thorough diagnosis and then get a prescription. Once the optician helps you determine the most appropriate type of lens and material, he/she might try and sell you the lenses. It is worth keeping in mind that you do not have to buy the lens from the optician – once you have the prescription, you can opt to buy it from a retailer who may sell you the contacts at a comparatively lower price.
If you have to choose between buying your contacts from a brick and mortar retailer versus an online store then usually buying them from an online store is better. Considering the abundance of options available online, you will still need to do a little digging and researching before you make the purchase. Money is not the only factor – its also a good idea to go through the customer reviews and carefully check for guarantees, return policies, stock availability and delivery timelines etc.
You may also want to check your medical insurance plan which normally does include vision coverage. Generally there would be one of two kinds of vision coverage – either the insurance company will pay a certain percentage of the buying price or you will be allowed to buy the contacts from a retailer that has an arrangement with the insurance provider. Some insurance policies will provide you a combination of these two options – either way, its definitely worth looking into.
Its not necessary that your optician will always sell you the contacts at a higher price. Some opticians sell a good quantity of contacts per year and therefore that allows them to give their customers a very competitive price. At times an eye doctor would provide you with a complete package which includes the contact lenses along with a certain number of monthly or quarterly visits. The two problems with online stores are (A) its risky and (B) shipping, insurance, handling costs and delivery time-lines could be pretty discouraging at times. In short: try to drive maximum value from whatever you spend. Do the math, visit a few stores, make a few calls and weigh all options thoroughly before buying your lenses.
Dom Donaldson is a published writer.
Find information to buy contacts and other services provided from Lenstore.