I’ve got a unique fashion muse. It’s not Beyoncé or Audrey Hepburn or Alexa Chung.
It’s my boyfriend’s dad.
The man has the coolest glasses. And I’ve been inspired by his round, Harold Lloyd frames for a while now. I decided to steal his look treat myself and shop for a pair of my own.
In the search for signature specs, I looked at the ridiculously cheap glasses options I wrote about a few months ago. Indeed, you can find some great frames online for under $50. (I’ve found some for under $25.)
Unfortunately, this time I couldn’t find any frames that I really liked. Maybe because I had a specific style in mind. In that cheap glasses post, Andrew at Living Rich Cheaply mentioned Warby Parker as another affordable option. I’d heard of them, so I decided to check them out. Here’s my experience, including how much I spent, total, on my new frames.
Here’s a video review, too, if you don’t feel like reading. Also, subscribe to my YouTube channel here.
What’s Warby Parker?
Probably the coolest thing about Warby Parker is their “Buy a Pair, Give a Pair” program. You can read about it here, but here’s the program, in their words:
It’s a sticky fact of life that kind-hearted gestures can have unintended consequences. Donating is often a temporary solution, not a lasting one. It can contribute to a culture of dependency. It is rarely sustainable.
Instead of donating, our partners train men and women to sell glasses for ultra-affordable prices, which allows them to earn a living. More important, it forces our partners to offer glasses that people actually want to buy: glasses that fit with local styles, look good, work well, and make the wearer feel incredible.
Here are some other facts you should know about the company:
• They’re affordable: Most frames are $95, with the lenses. Shipping is free in the “contiguous US.” Meaning, if you live in Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico, you’ve got to pay $15.
• They only ship to the U.S. and Canada: Unfortunately, they don’t offer international shipping.
• They look good: 90% of the time I compliment someone’s glasses, they tell me they’re from Warby Parker.
• They’re mostly online: Unless you live in NYC, LA or Boston, you can’t go into a Warby Parker store and try on the frames. The good news is, they have a home try-on program. You can pick out five frames you like, they’ll ship them to you, and you have five days to try them out. It’s 100% free, and they give you a box to ship them back.
• They’ve got a good return policy: You have 30-days to return, no questions asked. If your lenses get scratched within the first year, they’ll replace them for free.
Costco Eye Exam Cost: $50
On to my adventure. I couldn’t find my old eye prescription, but I needed a new one, anyway. My prescription started to feel strong. Too strong. It was like, over the past couple of years, my eyesight improved or something. Is that even possible? I have no idea, I’m too lazy to Google it. But every time I put on my glasses, I got a little woozy.
My plan was to head to the Warby Parker store in West Hollywood, where I could try on a perfect pair of glasses I found online. Some Warby Parker storefronts offer eye exams; the one in Los Angeles doesn’t. So I had to hunt for an affordable option. Enter Costco.
Costco offers eye exams for $50, no membership required. I made an appointment for Saturday at noon, and I was in-and-out within 30 minutes, despite their insanely crowded parking lot. The doctor was great; I told him about my headaches, and he confirmed that my old prescription was probably too strong. He gave me a new prescription and sent me on my way.
Cost of Frames & Lenses: $95
LA’s Warby Parker store is inside the Standard Hotel. I parked in the neighborhood and walked into the small storefront. It wasn’t too crowded, and the staff was helpful and friendly enough. They left me alone, and I was free to roam their selection on my own. I found those perfect glasses I’d seen online. But upon trying them on, they were a little larger than I expected. Which was surprising, because I have a pretty big head.
Actually, they looked pretty different than they did when I used the virtual try-on tool. But those virtual try-on tools are never perfect. And, anyway, I ended up trying on a different pair of glasses that I loved, priced at $95. I gave the employee my prescription, they emailed me my receipt, and I was in and out of the store in 15 minutes.
My grand total for new glasses: $145. If you already have a prescription, you’ll likely only spend $95. This is a lot less than I’ve paid in the past, but it’s also a lot more than glasses I’ve paid using discount sites like Goggles4U.
I have to say, though–I really, really love these glasses. They’re quality frames, and I’ll probably have them for years. (Note: if your prescription is a little more complex, the cost may be a bit more. This is true with most places, though.)
If you’re looking for a regular pair of cheap glasses and you’re not partial to any particular style, I’d recommend going the budget route. But Warby Parker seems to be a great balance of style, quality and price.
Plus, your purchase goes to a good cause, and that’s always a good thing.
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I haven’t purchased glasses from either of these 2 companies, but I did get a few from Coastal.com. Neither worked out because my prescription is so high, and the quality of their lenses are too low for my needed strength. I called the company asking them if they could give me better lenses, and they said they couldn’t, because that’s how they keep the costs down (I paid $80 total for the cutest glasses). I thought it was super sketchy they didn’t have a disclaimer for people with my prescription strength. I felt as though I was walking around with a fish bowl on my head when wearing the glasses I purchased from them. It was such a bummer. Fortunately Coastal lets you return product up to a year after purchasing them, so after attempting to wear them on and off for several months, I decided feeling like I was wearing drunk goggles wasn’t worth the look of the cute frames and returned them.
Last week I went in to get glasses from Vision Works. The frames I fell in love with, like really really really in love with these frames, were $175. For my prescription, the lenses would have made them a total of $625. My jaw dropped. Needless to say I did not get the glasses. My little heart is broken. I want to try out Warby Parker, but I’m so afraid it will disappoint me like Coastal did.
Is it so hard to ask for a nice pair of glasses that are actually affordable? Geez.
Jenny
http://www.mishmoshmakeup.com
🙁 Oh dang, sorry to hear about that, Jenny! My jaw would’ve dropped, too. I wonder if Warby Parker’s would be the same…I know they have a return policy similar to Coastal’s.
Next post I do on this topic I’ll research a bit more about higher prescription strengths. This seems to be a problem for a lot of people!
We have a chain in FL called Optical Outlets that has been my go-to for glasses the past couple of times as I have really good luck finding cute (but not childish) for my tiny kid-sized head. It’s really hard to find glasses that don’t look like a kid wearing my mom’s glasses sometimes which is part of what makes me nervous about internet glasses purchases but I’ve had a lot of luck there. They end up being $100-$150, and then insurance cuts me a check for about $100 worth of reimbursement, so it’s pretty low out of pocket.
That’s not bad at all, even without the insurance!
I love the Warby Parker’s model! They have a very clever way to manufacture and sell their glasses.
I think so too! Also, I like your glasses.
Thanks for the review…I’m probably going to go there sometime to check out the glasses. And I’ll probably go to the store…I’d like to try it on to see how they look and since I’m in NYC, it’s pretty convenient. I don’t think I can go back to paying so much for glasses.
Hey, Andrew! Thanks for the suggestion to check them out.
I was all ready to buy from Warby Parker until I saw that their 1.74 high-index lenses are $130 extra!!!! This doesn’t even include UV coating. There are other sites with stylish frames that only charge $90 for the same high index lenses.
Now their 1.67 high-index lenses are only $30 extra, which is normal and fair.
With my prescription, I must have the highest index available, or I end up with heavy goggles on my face (some retailers won’t even do my prescription in anything lower than 1.74). This makes Warby Parker a more typical cost for glasses, rather than being affordably stylish. It always bums me out how retailers which are supposed to make products for people with vision problems always marginalize those of us with TRUE vision problems, who need these products for the most basic of life functions.
I go to the eye doctor – nope, my prescription is not in stock. Go to buy glasses online – everything jumps up by $100 for my prescription or they cannot even accommodate my prescription at all. Here’s a business idea for someone: sell affordable glasses which cater to people who have high and/or complex prescriptions.
Yeah, I can understand your frustration 🙁 It’s a common complaint, too. This might be a good separate post–affordable options for more advanced prescriptions in particular.
Does Warby Parker accept insurance? My eye are insurance is through Aetna.
They say they don’t deal with insurance companies directly, but you can request a receipt to be reimbursed, if your coverage offers that: https://www.warbyparker.com/help#payment
Thanks Kristin. I wil check it out! 🙂
Did Aetna cover your glasses?
Thank you so much. This was most enlightening. I’m considering WP. I’m hoping they’ll be able to do my prescription, which is usually a bit complicated and very expensive. My 5 ‘try on’ frames are already on the way and I can’t wait. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Great tips in your video. You had me until you mentioned “hipster”. hahaha!
I’m just looking for affordable, larger-framed glasses, as the pricey ones in the stores are all rectangular shaped. Thanks for the review! It helped!
Bahaha I calls em like I sees em.
Glad it helped! I’ve ordered some sunglasses from them, too, and they’ve held up really well. My only complaint is I wish they had a larger selection. I mean, they have quite a few frames to choose from, but they all kind of look the same or seem to fit a particular face shape. Maybe my head is just too big.
Nice review Kristin. I like WP but feel they are overhyped. There are a lot of online stores that have frames that are just as good quality for less. Also they don’t sell rimless or half-rimless which a lot of people prefer.
Have you bought new specs from WP since this review?
Yeah, there are so many great, affordable options out there! I have bought new glasses from them since the review–a pair of prescription sunglasses. I still dig them, but I kind of agree with you in another comment: I’d love to see a more varied selection.
I bought a pair of reading glasses from WP for about $100. I noticed they scratched pretty easily. After about 2 months the left lens was so scratched it was unusable. I went to their store here and they told me to request a replacement lens online. To make a long story short, I eventually got a new pair for free in the mail. Thank you WP! However, I’ve had them for one day and the right lens already has a scratch in it. And I was trying to be extra careful to use a soft cloth to clean them. I’ve had the same pair of Maui Jim sunglasses for 2 years and while they’re scratched, the difference in “scratchability” is large. WP does NOT have a scratch resistant option, and based on my experience, I will never buy WP unless and until they offer scratch resistant lenses. One-for-one is great and I applaud it, but you still have to deliver a quality product, and I don’t believe their lenses are sufficient quality for everyday use. I would pay more for it, say $115 or even maybe $125.
I recently took my father to Costco to purchase glasses. Their frames for men were very limited but we finally chose a pair that were fairly stylish. The cost was about $215 with progressive lenses. Once the glasses arrived with the glass in the frames, the weight of the glass pulled the frame off the bridge of his nose causing the reading section on the lenses to be below his line of sight for reading. We took them back yesterday to be adjusted. They could not make enough adjustments to make the glasses function correctly and told us we would have to get another style of frame for the lenses to work. The lenses we had purchased did not fit any of their other frames. And, by the way, their return policy does not apply to the frames, and we would have to pay for a whole new pair of glasses. Needless to say, we will not throw good money after bad at Costco. We will shop elsewhere and share our experience there.
Great read here! Check out Vision Interchange (www.visioninterchange.com).
You can TRADE your frames for just $39 (i.e. you’re bored of your Warby Parker frames, and you trade them in for a pair of Ray Ban’s). It’s for both glasses and sunglasses (prescription and non-prescription).
They also partner with the highest quality optical shops to get you professional lenses (and yay for supporting local businesses). There are endless styles and brands. Check them out today.