Practicing What I Preach.

In my book, Shrewd Shopping, and in my class for senior citizens at the local community college, I talk about how to get deals over the Internet. Sometimes I need to remember to practice what I preach.

Yesterday, I was diagnosed with fast-growing cataracts. I need new eyeglasses, but they might not help after three to six months because the cataracts are growing so quickly. The prospect of buying new glasses was upsetting enough, but the thought that I’d have to buy another pair in a few months was doubly discouraging. Eyeglasses can cost hundreds of dollars, which is why people make do with the glasses they have. I can’t “make do,” because mine are no longer helping at all.

My business partner had once bought glasses from Zennioptical.com for $35, which makes total sense: When you don’t have to deal with insurance companies, medicine (from Canada) and medical supplies can be found online at prices that are a fraction of the cost elsewhere. So I checked out a few: Sears and Pearle Vision came to around $259 for bifocals, including frames. Zennioptical.com came to a bit over $60 and also included bifocals and frames.

Then I remembered to practice what I preach: I went to my old standby, Ebates.com, typed in “eyeglasses” under “product search,” and two websites came up: VisionDirect.com and EyeBuyDirect.com.

VisionDirect.com offered a 10 percent e-coupon and 5 percent cash-back, but when I went to the site, I found that the savings and rebate were just for contact lenses. EyeBuyDirect.com offered a 20 percent-off e-coupon with 7 percent cash-back, which totaled 27 percent off the $52 price, or $46.55. And, I still get $0.36 in my rebate check from Ebates.com.

It’s easy to purchase eyeglasses online. At an online optical shop, click through the pictures of eyeglass frames to find one you like at the price you like. Although you obviously can’t try on the frames, each frame does have a measurement, and the online optical shops explain how to select frames that fit. The more bells and whistles you add to your eyeglasses, the more they will cost. For example, tinted lenses cost more than untinted; progressive bifocals cost more than lined lenses; and antireflective coatings and such are also going to add a few dollars.

You must have your eyeglass prescription, and you need to know the distance between your pupils (the “PD”); if you’re buying progressive bifocals, you’ll need the PD for each. (You are entitled to your prescription and PD measurement from your eye examiner.) If you’re buying single-vision lenses and your prescription does not show the PD, ask someone to measure the distance between the pupils as you look straight ahead. Just plug all the information from the prescription into the online form, and—voilà!—you’ve just ordered eyeglasses at quite a discount, and they will be shipped to you. It takes about two weeks.

Lesson learned: Practice what I preach!—Alice Rose Kieft