Contact Lens Cost Cutting article discussion

Ed_Eichman

Hi AjP,

VisionDirect.co.uk is even cheaper - 90.98 GBP for 90 pairs of Focus Dailies Toric contact lenses. They have also been building a solid reputation in the UK for the last decade for great service and great prices. Also, according to Steve Benbow of Hitwise (an Internet usage data mining company), VisionDirect.co.uk gets the most Internet traffic in the UK when users search for "contact lenses".

Happy Shopping,
Ed

Ed_Eichman

Agnes wrote: »

HUGE THANK YOU to MARTIN I found exactly the same ones, on Visiondirect

Hi Agnes,

Did you buy at VisionDirect.co.uk or VisionDirect.com (two totally different companies)? VisionDirect.com, from what I heard, is a good shop. However, ordering lenses from the USA can cause duty and insurance problems for UK users. I've contacted several US companies about this, but CostalContacts was the only one who ever replied (see my blog if you want more details).

This article from HM Revenue and Customs (refered to in my post) is also interesting reading on this subject.

HTH,
Ed

Ed_Eichman

News: I just received an email that "[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As of October 10th Coastal Contacts will transition customers to LensWay[/FONT]" (NOTE: I found nothing on either of their web sites to indicate this, but I'm pretty sure it's true since Coastal purchased LensWay some time ago). To check my client's competition, I went to LensWay to look at their prices. LensWay claims that "this month we have lowered our prices", and claim a 9% discount on Soflens One Day. However, their price (26.90 GBP per box plus 3.50 in shipping = 30.40 GBP), even with a discount, is higher than VisionDirect.co.uk (27.50 GBP plus free shipping = 27.50), whose price is TEN PERCENT cheaper.

Ed_Eichman

Disclosure: [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]www.lensbase.com[/FONT] is also my client...
In BEST BUYS: Cheapest lens suppliers, Martin reports that Lensplanet has the lowest prices for [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]One-day Acuvue at 306 GBP. However, Lensbase beats them, selling One-day Acuvue at 299 GBP.

In addition, [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Lensbase [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]has a huge inventory, great support, and Google indicates the superior relative importance of the site [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]on the web [/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]by giving it a PageRank of 4 (logarithmic scale), well above Lensplanet's 3 ranking.[/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]

stretchmark

Hey Martin,

Maybe when you are next updating your page you could pop into our online Contact Lens Shop http://www.TheContactLensShop.com.

We are a UK supplier and have been selling contact lenses online since 2001.

We have thousands of happy customers who continue to order from us regularly. We try and offer a fast friendly service and we monitor our prices. We can't always complete with the huge supermarkets. But we do our best!

All the best,

[EMAIL="Mark@TheContactLensShop"]Mark@TheContactLensShop[/EMAIL]

Ed_Eichman

Please compare with VisionDirect.co.uk on contact lens prices before you buy from TheContactLensShop - VisionDirect.co.uk has many thousands of satisfied repeat customers, a higher page rank (i.e. Google sees us as a more important site on the web), and lower prices on almost all products - sometimes significantly lower.

What they DO have is a really cool cascading menu on the left side of their main screen - nice touch! Also their testimonial page is a nice idea.

ethansmum

How much does a contact lens check up cost? I'm sorely tempted to change from Specsavers £10 a month (all incl) to Tescos £5 a month. I've just had a sight test and Lens check up so now would be the ideal time to change.

Would I have to prove that I had both to be able to buy contact lens by post?

TIA

Ed_Eichman

ethansmum wrote: »

How much does a contact lens check up cost? I'm sorely tempted to change from Specsavers £10 a month (all incl) to Tescos £5 a month. I've just had a sight test and Lens check up so now would be the ideal time to change.

Hi EthansMum,

I'm Nick's Dad - nice to meet you! Here is some information about lens check up costs from whatprice.

HTH,
Ed

nedmundo

The link shows prices for eye examinations and not contact lens checks - the two are very separate services.

wishiwasarichgirl

ethansmum wrote: »

How much does a contact lens check up cost? I'm sorely tempted to change from Specsavers £10 a month (all incl) to Tescos £5 a month. I've just had a sight test and Lens check up so now would be the ideal time to change.

Would I have to prove that I had both to be able to buy contact lens by post?

TIA

Prices vary depending where you live and where you go, average is probably £20-£25 although some places will charge much more than this. Phone a few local opticians to check.
Remember the charge is for every contact lens check up, not too bad if you only need one a year, but if the optician needs to see you more frequently or if you have a problem with your lenses and need extra appointments it can get pricey.

And yes, you need a valid sight test prescription AND contact lens prescription to order on-line.