If you wear glasses or contact lenses the new breed of online retailers (lensplanet.com, postopics.co.uk, budgetspex.com, specsonthenet.com, fashionspecsdirect.co.uk, glassesdirect.co.uk) could save you money.
For both contacts and glasses the concept works in the same way – you send the companies your prescription and they deliver the product to your door. For contact lenses the price depends on the quantity you order. The savings on glasses can be staggering with price comparisons estimating it can be up to 10 times more expensive to buy on the high street than online.
The one caution when buying lenses online is the aftercare required. It is obviously impossible to have aftercare from a website. The best way to get around this is to try and visit a regular optician – some web companies now have affiliations with opticians enabling you to get the best of both worlds, for example Sainsbury’s Opticians gives you 20% off aftercare at Dollond&Aitchison .
Discounts on Laser Eye Surgery
If you decide to ditch your lenses and glasses, and look into fixing your eyes on a more permanent basis, then make sure you do the research.
- Sign up to different laser eye websites, the main sites are optimax.co.uk, accuvision.co.uk, ultralase.com, opticalexpress.com and centreforsight.com. Ensure you sign up to all the sites as they each have different available offers which they email out to registered users.
- Check eBay. You can buy £100 off vouchers for Optimax for 1p
- Some of the above surgeries may offer discounts for companies that have joined their privilege discount scheme. Optimax, in particular, offers company partners and associates a discount of up to 25%.
- Make sure you consult expert forums to ensure you are getting a balanced perspective about the pro's and con's of surgery before you go through with it. Lasereyeforum.com, lasekeyes.blogspot.com, lasermyeye.org or lasik-eyes.co.uk have active and balanced forums and discussions.
- Tesco Clubcard vouchers are worth four times their value when used out with of Tesco and even they can be redeemed against laser eye surgery. In essence this means you can have surgery priced at £800 with £200 worth of vouchers.
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Donating Old Glasses
200 million people in developing countries could have a much easier life with the help of glasses. In rural areas there is no eye care, and locals depend on donations.
Vision Aid is collecting unwanted glasses and distributing them overseas to people who need them most. You can donate your unwanted spectacles by donating them in Vision Express store and through local opticians and Vision Express stores. See vao.org.uk for more information about how to get involved.
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