Free Prescription Glasses! No Kidding!

[thefrugaltwo]

For any fellow glasses wearers out there, you should definitely check these guys out:

http://www.coastal.com/glasses

So the deal is you need to already have your prescription info, the first pair is free. When you google "coastal eyewear" just click on the link under the primary costal link, which says, "First pair free". Then you enter your prescription info, pick frames, and it's literally free. It's pretty obvious how you could continue doing this forever with the help of friends, but I'll leave that to your conscience. I have used it and so has one of my roommates. We were both very happy with the quality, style of frames, everything. I can't recommend it enough.

[StaceStache]

Thanks for the rec! Hubby needs new glasses. I assume you still have to pay for shipping? Still an awesome deal, though.

[Stives]

I got really excited until I found out it was forcing me to choose more expensive lenses and thus be DQ'd from the deal. My prescription is -4.50 R and -5.50 L, and anything above +/- 3.0 it doesn't allow the cheap lense type. Oh well...

[robtown]

Only the basic glasses (and frames) with no treatments are free, and then shipping and handling was about $17.   Even so, I could use some basic driving glasses to keep in the car, so the link saved me about $40.   Simple Costco lens in existing frames would have been closer to $60.

Thank you for the link.

[arebelspy]

My prescription is too bad to get the free ones.

Zenni Optical is my eyeglass site of choice: http://www.zennioptical.com/

[rocksinmyhead]

Awesome!!

Another option if you have already used up your free pair is 39DollarGlasses.com. My boyfriend ordered some earlier this year. I laughed at him because it sounded so sketchy (39DollarGlasses.com, really?!??) but he was very satisfied with his pair. Not sure what his prescription is so I don't know if those of you with strong ones would run into the same issues...

[KulshanGirl]

My free pair of glasses from coastal shipped yesterday and should be here soon.  I will report back  in this post how they are.  One good aspect of it was that I was interested in what all of the numbers in my prescription meant.  So I learned a thing or two in addition to getting nearly free ($16 S&H) specs.  :)

[dcheesi]

Another vote for Zenni Optical. I've been using them for years now.

[lauren_knows]

I'm going to derail this thread slightly and ask an on-topic question:   Do any of you that use these online glasses companies ever have to order a bunch of frames to try on, then send back? Or are you finding the single frame you like and just ordering?

The reason I ask is because I have a large/wide head (cue jokes), and glasses can be a pain in the ass to fit.  My next pair of glasses, I'm looking for a very specific color/type that I don't usually see in stores... but I'm trying to get over the whole hurdle of not being able to try them on in person.

[lifejoy]

And if you're in Canada: clearlycontacts.ca

Just google search "first pair free promo code"

[KulshanGirl]

At coastal, you can sort the glasses based on all kinds of size measurements.  I have a tiny peanut head and sometimes get kids frames, so I have the same kind of problem. 

On to my review!

The glasses are good quality, fit well, and they got my prescription right.  They were well packaged and came with a nice sturdy case AND a little cleaning kit that included a little mini-repair screwdriver on a keychain.  I could not be more pleased with my free glasses.  My initial thought upon ordering was ha, free glasses, I'm done.  But they've won me over, I probably will order my next pair from them.  :)  Coastal = win.  For me, anyway.

[lauren_knows]

At coastal, you can sort the glasses based on all kinds of size measurements.  I have a tiny peanut head and sometimes get kids frames, so I have the same kind of problem. 

So, did you measure your head yourself? Or did you get the measurements from your optometrist?  It's been a long time since I've gotten glasses, and I basically just tried on a bunch until I found "bigger" ones.  I mostly stick to contacts.

[greenmimama]

I'm going to derail this thread slightly and ask an on-topic question:   Do any of you that use these online glasses companies ever have to order a bunch of frames to try on, then send back? Or are you finding the single frame you like and just ordering?

The reason I ask is because I have a large/wide head (cue jokes), and glasses can be a pain in the ass to fit.  My next pair of glasses, I'm looking for a very specific color/type that I don't usually see in stores... but I'm trying to get over the whole hurdle of not being able to try them on in person.

We have ordered from both Zenni and Coastal, both are quite similar, my DH also has a wide head, you need to know the frame size to order and yes you can search for larger frames, my DH likes a 52 or higher, so we really haven't had trouble, sometimes he likes one frame better than another, but we have bought about 6 pair through the years and still haven't even equaled the amount of his first pair from Costco of $125, it seems like a no brainer, at least order a 2nd pair from one of these guys, for a spare. Zenni starts at $8.95 seriously.

[Rural]

Siding was my big concern, too. Look inside the ones you have and see if there are numbers printed there. The Zenni website will walk you through them, if so-- they're sizing.

My numbers were basically worn off. Frankly, I guessed and ordered a $5.99 pair to start (sounds like they've gone up a bit). Those fit okay but were a little tight, so I went up and got a slightly larger pair I wanted more for ~$15.99 and then had a primary pair and a spare for $22 plus a total of $10 shipping. Not bad.

Of course, you can also go somewhere, try on pairs, and write down the numbers on ones that fit, them look on the website.