My First Experience with Optical4Less

I abuse my glasses like no one else. Until July this year, I had been wearing a pair of glasses I had purchased almost three years ago. The frame is a Marchon Flexon 607. I must admit, the frame was well worth every penny of the large amount of money I spent. Over the time I owned those glasses, I have sat on them, stepped on them, dropped them from rocks and put a box of books on them, to count just a few of the accidental abuses I inflicted on that poor frame. In each and every case, the frame sprang right back into shape with a little careful adjustment. So, if you are just going to buy one pair of trouble free glasses, I recommend Flexons with no reservations whatsoever.

The most recent accident I had with those glasses proved to be a little too much for the frame to handle. Not only did I drop the glasses on a concrete sidewalk, but I had already stepped on them, along the top edge of the glasses before I realized what was happening. To my suprise, the lenses did not break. However, the strings that goes along the bottom edge of the glasses did. In two places. Time to break out the super glue.

[ Super glued glasses with smudges on the lenses ] The smudges you see on the lenses don't come out. That's what happens when you don't plan a super-glue operation carefully. Anyway, I figured it was time for a new eye exam and new glasses. I had also been meaning to get a pair of prescription sunglasses, so I started looking into how I could save money (I did not want to spend $600 - $700 on two pairs of glasses).

So, I stumbled upon (literally, not via StumbleUpon) Ira Mitchell's blog posts. I had never thought I could safely buy prescription eyeglasses on the internet before. So, I read and read and read, got my new eye-exam and immediately chickened out after finding out that the Sterling Optical in Ithaca's Pyramid Mall was having a great sale. I bought two pairs of glasses there for about $350. They were not Flexons, though.

[ Frame bent. Not fixable. ] Fast forward 10 days. I am watching The Monk and I start drifting away. As I get up, I realize too late that I just dropped my brand new glasses on the floor and my right foot steps right on them before my brain could do anything about it. The subsequent crunching sound echoed in my mind for what seemed to be an eternity. When I looked at the frames again, I saw that the lenses had popped out unscathed, but the frame was irretrievably bent. That's when I decided to take a chance and order a new pair on the web.

I looked at a few web sites and settled on Optical 4 Less. They have frames suitable for my big head and their prices are consistently low for all sorts of styles. They are located in Hong Kong, so it does take some time for your order to arrive. Mine took 11 days and I had to go to the post office to pick it up. The cost was $39 for the glasses, $8 for shipping and I am guessing I will be charged some kind of currency exchange fee by my credit card company.

As soon as I got the package at the post office, I opened it and put my new rimless glasses on. They did not feel any different than the ones I had bought at the store. I did not have any measurements done, but the prescription seems to be right on. I was able to drive back home with no discomfort at all and have been wearing them consistently now. I can safely say that was one of the best forty-seven dollar purchases of my life.

[ My $39 rimless glasses from Optical4Less ] By the way, I should point out that the glasses case they came in was a cheapo plastic one but then I still have the fancy one that came with my now useless bent frame I mentioned above.

I am planning to order again from Optical4Less.

Please keep in mind: I am not affiliated at all with Optical4Less. This is just my personal experience. Always do your own due diligence when purchasing anything online.