How much have you paid for eyeglasses?

[edbermac]

Just got some new ones and the tab is $240. The frames were around $80, the plastic lenses are bifocals and I got coatings on them like anti-scratch, UV, anti-glare, etc.

Just curious if this is too much or just about right; my last new pair was about 5 years ago, can't remember what I paid, though I think it was around the same.

[LeftyMom]

1. $480 for a pair of regular and one of sunglasses

Not for me, I can see fine. For LK's Dad.

[AlCzervik]

2. after insurance about $100.

i have really good insurance, my dental ins. sucks though.

[azmouse]

3. Last year my husband got 2 pair of eyeglasses

I think the bill came to around $650 and that was with a discount from AAA. Yikes! I was shocked that glasses have gotten that expensive.

[yurbud]

4. $500 thin lens, progressive bifocal, anti-glare coating

[SeattleGirl]

5. That's about what I paid for mine, yurbud.

Expensive little buggers!

[yurbud]

27. that's getting old frames refilled too.

[Richard Steele]

6. This latest pair was around $300, and that was actually a bargain.

The frames were NOS from the early 1960s, and only cost me 25 bucks.
Similar NEW frames would run around a hundred.

The high-refractive plastic lenses, then the various optional coatings-
it all adds up pretty quick these days.

[Strawman]

7. over $400

before. $240 is reasonable.

[idgiehkt]

8. I paid that almost 20 years ago

I still have them.

Where did you get your eyeballs from?

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Not a bad price.

It's hard to get them much cheaper with bifocal lenses. The UV and anti-glare make a big difference for me so I don't think of them as optional anymore as long as I can afford them.
My last glasses cost about $300 with progressive lens and the bonus prize was that I received single vision sunglasses for another $30.

[Redbear]

10. The vision industry is very profitable.

When glasses changed from simply something you need to see to something you want to look good in, the prices took off and have stayed there.

[malta blue]

11. They usually run me 300-500 every time I get a new pair

with a new frame.

[Spacemom]

12. I got new glasses last week

The total was $218. Talk about sticker shock. But it's either pay it, or stumble around in a blurry haze. :D

[xchrom]

13. 500 dollar gucci -- i have them on now.

i had to save up a year and half for them -- tortoise shell -- sort of squared off frames -- but not exactly -- i love them.

[Scooter24]

31. I love the Gucci frames.

good choice :hi:

[Momgonepostal]

14. My husband just got a pair that cost about that much

I think once you get into bi-focals, the cost goes up dramatically. And this was after our insurance kicked in $125ish for the frames. They were also progressive lenses, Transistions, and the extras you mentioned.

I think $80 is fairly low for frames.

The bummer is when your eyes change faster than you hope and you have to do it again in 1 or 2 years.

[northzax]

15. for the frames?

$850. but then they were custom made from titanium.

[GoneOffShore]

16. Sounds about right

you can pay lots more.

I went to "ForEyes" here in Philly and got a pair of Pierre Cardin frames, graduated bifocals, anti glare, etc PLUS a pair of single vision sunglasses and the bill was just over $400 - of which insurance took care of $100.

[Pierre.Suave]

17. Too much

the current pair was around $380.00

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. $650...but I got screwed.

:hi:

[Neoma]

19. I'm going to pay for my new glasses soon.

They'll only be 39$.

[MissMillie]

20. My lenses usually cost around $250

Between a severe astigmatism and now the need for bifocals....

My last pair was $450, and I got a 25% discount from the optician because my health insurance didn't cover them.... which makes you wonder....

Why are they charging those w/ insurance more? Isn't that one of the things that makes insurance so damned expensive?

[William Bloode]

21. I have Medicaid.

I get mine free. Very basic and simple, not unlike the owner. But free is good.

[Momgonepostal]

23. When our kids were on Healthy Families...

which is CA's version of low-cost health insurance for children, we paid next to nothing for glasses for them. And most local eye doctors take that kind of vision insurance, which is great, and very unlike the situation with medical doctors and government insurance.

Anywoo, three cheers for low and no cost eyeglasses!

[zingaro]

22. the man to whom I'm married paid $764.

Of course he chose designer frames and they were bifocals with the photogray lenses and scratch-resistant coating.

Our portion was $250-ish.

[Va Lefty]

24. I paid $380 for lens and frames last May

Bi-focals, transitions, anti-scratch etc.

[Little Wing]

25. $250

My first pair, thought I'd splurge. It's only my eyes after all

[bikebloke]

26. Around $250

Last year I used my work insurance for new specs. I'd been recycling the old frames for years. My prescription faintly changed since my last examination 10 years earlier. So I bought one pair, then out of pocket a spare pair. Then a feral bungee cord attacked me, scratching a lens. They wouldn't sell me another unless I had another eye exam. Our "representatives" passed a law that said you had to have new exam for new specs. I wonder how much they were paid for that. Frack 'em, I'll live with the scratch.

[yurbud]

28. how much more expensive before laser eye surgery looks like a bargain?

[KitchenWitch]

29. That is about right!

They are spendy now.

[Shell Beau]

30. My husband is almost legally blind and his lenses are

extra thick. So we have to pay the extra to get them as thin as possible, but they still are thick. We pay about $500 for his. I think he is +7.50!

[QMPMom]

32. Last year I was quoted approximately $900.00 CDN for new

no line bifocals with non-glare lenses. Needless to say, I did not get them at that time. I will never darken Lenscrafters door again for my glasses.

[Quakerfriend]

33. $1.00/pair at the dollar store

:eyes:

I buy 5-10 pairs at a time depending on the styles available.

[LanternWaste]

34. I bought my first pair last August.

I bought my first pair last August. The eye exam (first since HS), the prescription and the lenses cost app. $150. Bear in mind that it was all done at Sears Optical and the frames I bought were at the low end of the mid-range prices.

Glass lenses, no special coatings or glare stuff-- pretty basic stuff.

[Oeditpus Rex]

35. Including the exam

my current pair were $700-something about five years ago. Lenses are progressive bifocals with all that "anti" stuff, and the frames are the twisty-flexy kind, which means I can fall asleep wearin' 'em. And often do. :crazy:

[femmocrat]

36. Around $275 for the same kind that you got. Two years ago.

And I'm pretty sure I need new ones this year. My insurance pays $15 for lenses and $15 for frames! What a joke.

:cry:

[mrdemocrat78]

37. Damn, you guys pay a lot

Including eye exam, I paid 200 for 1 regular and 1 prescription pair

[Ivan Sputnik]

38. About that much

But the frames were on sale. My philosophy is that you shouldn't scrimp on something that sits on your face.

[Generic Brad]

39. Twenty bucks

I buy four packs of reading glasses.