Choosing glasses, sight unseen

By Jason Simpson

I have trouble buying things online. I like to try on clothes before I buy them, as inseams are often difficult to estimate on a website. I imagine it would also be weird to buy something like a mattress from Overstock.com — but I know they sell them.

And why wouldn’t I be leery of buying something before I ever lay a hand on it? In a time when instant satisfaction is abundant, who wants to wait for a product to arrive, only to find that it doesn’t work or fit?

It is because of my reservations that I have had the same pair of glasses since 2007. That, and my fear of going from a casual glasses wearer to a full-time aficionado of four eyes.

But it was time to upgrade my face, so I headed to LensCrafters where I headed straight for an Oakley display. It seemed that their style meshed with the updated version of myself that I wanted to present to the world.

As I pulled off the awesome Oakley frames, I squinted and took my first glance at the price tag: $300. I didn’t think this was too terrible, but it turns out the $300 just covered the frames. An eye exam is $80, the lenses start at $120 and if I want glare reducing and protective coatings, those cost extra. My $300 frames quickly turned into a $600 pair of glasses.

I often carry important things like glasses in the pockets of my cargo pants and shorts; my casual garb often looking reminiscent of Teddy Roosevelt on a safari. And with pocket space to spare, why would I not stuff them with breakable valuables? It goes without saying that I tend to sit on things like glasses.

$600 for a pair of something I routinely sit on is mildly unreasonable.

A friend suggested I check out Warby Parker — an online eyeglass store that sells frames and lenses for common prescriptions at around $95. I never considered buying something as important as glasses online when I have enough trouble buying shoes. But the financial god of my student budget demanded a sacrifice, and I offered up my eyesight as payment.

I scheduled an eye exam at Uptown Eyecare on Broughton Street. The exam was just $69 and took about an hour.

Warby Parker operates through in-home try-ons. You can choose a maximum of five pair, so in order to not appear stingy I ordered four. The representatives at Warby Parker selected a fifth pair for me, using the pairs I had selected to choose a reasonable alternative. Two days later, my box arrived with five frames. I tried on the four I picked and was underwhelmed with my selections. The fifth pair — the one the company chose for me — was the one I liked the most.

It seems that Warby Parker knows more about my personal style than I do and they charged me nothing for shipping and handling both ways.

After I sent the box back, I went online and ordered my $95 glasses. The website allows you to enter the prescription yourself by either scanning and emailing it or providing your eye doctor’s phone number — someone from Warby Parker will call and verify your prescription.

My glasses arrived this afternoon and the whole venture only cost me $165. From start to finish, eye exam included, the process took about a little less than two weeks.

Plus, my prescription is stored on their website should I need a pair to replace these in case I sit on them.

Warby Parker opened my eyes to the possibility of buying things online without being disappointed.