Cheap internet sunglasses?

August 11, 2008 7:23 AM

Can anyone suggest an online cheap eyeglass place that has sunglass-style frames?

I've always had a $250 prescription, so I've never felt it was worth it to get prescription sunglasses. A few weeks ago, I finally tried goggles4u since they have free tinting, and I'm happy with the result for $35, but in retrospect I didn't think it through and the style of the frames isn't very sunglasses. (Also 90% tint is damn dark). So I'm going to try again.

Do any of the vendors sell sunglasses as sunglasses, rather than just as eyeglasses with a tint? Has anyone found a vendor with good sunglass frames?

posted by smackfu to clothing, beauty, & fashion (12 comments total)

EyeBuyDirect and Optical4Less offers sport frames (sunglasses with clip-in prescription lenses). 39DollarGlasses has an entire sunglasses category.

See the Glassy Eyes blog for coupon codes.
posted by ardgedee at 7:40 AM on August 11, 2008

Zenni Optical (at this point, they totally owe me, I've posted about them in Ask about 500 times)
posted by tristeza at 7:42 AM on August 11, 2008

As an aside, for somebody like me, whose eyes are pretty bad, even the hardcore discount places (like Goggles4u) will cost a couple times the advertised price due to special lenses and treatments.

Different shops will charge different amounts for these extras, so don't make assumptions about what the total cost of the glasses will be unless you've made a dry run through the ordering process.
posted by ardgedee at 7:42 AM on August 11, 2008

Sort of related previously.
posted by fixedgear at 8:45 AM on August 11, 2008

I was going to say Zenni Optical but Tristeza beat me to it. And, I think Zenni owes me too - I've told pretty much every person I know (and a few strangers!) about them. They're FABULOUS!
posted by TurquoiseZebra at 9:56 AM on August 11, 2008

I bought 2 pairs of specs from Zenni: one tinted with a prescription and one tinted with no prescription (for use with contacts.) I actually got an email from them before they fulfilled the order to confirm that I wanted one non-corrective pair. They have a pretty large selection of frames of all styles. I would recommend Zenni for corrective sunglasses, but it’s easier to find cheap, non-corrective shades elsewhere.
posted by breaks the guidelines? at 11:38 AM on August 11, 2008

Fatwallet.com has had a few threads on this over the years, might be a good place to view other's feeback. Here's one on Zenni that's been going since 2003!
posted by zaphod at 2:41 PM on August 11, 2008

I managed to figure out the answer to my recent question about relensing generic drugstore sunglasses frames myself, and I'd like to share!

If you can't find anything you like from Zenni / Optical4Less / SpecsontheNet / Gogggles4U / GlobalEyeglasses / 39DollarEyeglasses / EyeBuyDirect, Global Eyeglasses will relens any pair of glasses you want for the absolute best price (please believe me, I looked EVERYWHERE, called places I didn't even mention in that thread).

I spent a grand total of $75 to relens three pairs of frames (this includes the 10% off coupon "glassyeyes," shipping, and the fact that my lenses cost twice as much because my eyes suck. Tinted lenses in a weak prescription would be more expensive than clear but still slightly cheaper than mine were).

Be careful when you pick out the frames. If you compare your 'script oglefakes to Nicole Richie bug-eye sunglasses from Sav-On Drugs, you'll notice that the official frames are shaped like a square missing a side, while the sunglasses are shaped like a U. Lots of sunglasses are too rounded/curved to support a prescription lens. Try to pick frames that are squared off. I ended up going with knockoff Wayfarers, myself.
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:11 PM on August 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Different shops will charge different amounts for these extras, so don't make assumptions about what the total cost of the glasses will be unless you've made a dry run through the ordering process.

Very true. And by chance my prescription is on the divider line for what they consider difficult due to relatively high astigmatism correction. At some vendors like Zenni, I need to pay an extra $10 or $20and wait longer. At others the only the extra fee is for the higher-index lenses.
posted by smackfu at 5:19 PM on August 11, 2008

Nthing Zenni.
posted by lalochezia at 7:19 PM on August 11, 2008

I bought a pair of aviators from 39dollarglasses that I wear daily. The prescription is fine, but I wish the tint were darker. I'd probably buy from them again.
posted by fishfucker at 8:59 PM on August 11, 2008

Here's another vote for ZenniOptical.com. I bought my last pair of glasses from there (and another of the exact same frame with sunglasses tint - best decision of my life), and I've loved them. So much so that I ordered the exact same frames (and another with sunglass tint again) with an updated prescription about a month ago. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to screw up both the frame selection and the prescription. Even though this was admittedly my fault, they still let me send them back and credited me a 50% refund. Yesterday I placed the order for another 2 pairs, this time (hopefully) with the right frame and prescriptions.
posted by illflux at 9:46 AM on August 13, 2008