Eyebuydirect and Firmoo review

[Jankdc]

I had mixed experience with buying online. While there are savings to
be had, it hasn't been easier than going to a store and picking out
frames. I've needed to educate myself and take responsibility for
making it work. I think that lots can go wrong, and I found that it
is important to get your glasses checked by your optometrist no matter
who you get your lenses from.

I found glassyeyes a couple of months ago and the idea of $40
eyeglasses that looked good excited me. So two weeks ago I went and
got my first eye exam in over 7 years. I called optometrists and
scheduled with one who said I could get my pd measurement. I was
looking at different sites for taller glasses and found some that I
liked at eyebuydirect and was thinking of some rimless from zenni or
optical4less. I pulled the trigger on these:
http://www.eyebuydirect.com/mu-fashion-glasses-p-2196.html. Cost was
$40.57 shipped with ar coating and the 15% glassyeyes discount. I made
the purchase Sunday 9/20 and got them next saturday (9/26).

I was going to hold off on purchasing my next pair just to see how it
went but came across firmoo from the discussion on glassyeyes forum:
http://tinyurl.com/y95zys2

I went to the website and saw these glasses http://www.firmoo.com/eyeglasses-p-1017.html.
I decided to buy them because they were only $14.40 shipped with ar
coating and their discount code "firstorder". I bought them Monday
9/21 in the morning. I got an email and tracking code on 9/24 that
they were shipped and received them Monday 9/28.

Both were incredibly fast delivery, the Firmoo glasses were shipped
from China.

I chose both glasses based on my current frame size, temple is 140mm.

Note: both were shorter than what I wanted. The height measurement is
from the outside of the frame, not the height of the lens. I was
looking for something with a lens height of larger than 36mm. These
were both shorter that what I want.

Eyebuydirect:
Nice sturdy glasses, good looking, but were uncomfortable to wear. The
temples were bent inward and hurt the side of my head and the nose
pinched. I went to Walmart and had them adjusted the next day on
Sunday. I did some shopping and had them adjust them again before
leaving. I wore the new pair on Monday, but by the end of the day I
had a headache. The frames were still uncomfortable, and I thought the
pressure from the frames caused the headache. I decided that on
Wednesday the 30th, I'd take them to my eye doctor and have his staff
member try to fit it. I didn't have much hope and on Tuesday, started
a return order. I got instruction on how to return the frames that
day. Fortunately, there were a pair from Firmoo waiting Monday night.

Firmoo:
Attractive glasses, plastic frame felt thinner than the Eyebuydirect
frames. There is also more flex in the frames, which actually made
them more comfortable. They fit just right and were very comfortable.
I wore them on Tuesday and they worked great, no headache at the end
of the day. Definitely a keeper.

Wednesday at the eye doctor's.
I described to his assistant what was happening with the glasses and
asked that she check the lenses against my prescription and see if she
could adjust the one pair of frames.
She first checked the Eyebuydirect glasses. Prescription was off in
the right lens by 5 degrees and that the diopter were both off. She
said that may be why I was getting a headache.

She said that the ones from Firmoo were right on.

I sent the Eyebuydirect glasses back.

I know that many here have had great success with Eyebuydirect, and
certainly the shipping and return has been very good, but I don't
think that I'll be purchasing from them again. Firmoo is a new site,
they don't register on the internet archives (http://www.archive.org/
web/web.php), which means that they are probably less than a year old.
I imagine that as their business grows, they will raise prices, and
may have some growing pains. If you buy from them, please let us know
how they work for you.

I am very glad that I bought from two different sites. I am also glad
that one of the pairs were good. If I only had the pair from
Eyebuydirect, I would have been extremely frustrated. If I hadn't had
them checked, I may not have noticed that the lenses were off. I will
buy again from Firmoo. I'll let you know how it works when I do.

My recommendation is buyer beware, do your research, and have a third
party check the lenses versus your prescription (I think that this is
a good idea even if you get them from Wal-mart or a B/M store).

Final issue is cost. There is no question that I saved money, the
question is how much. One way that I can look at this experience is
that I have one pair of glasses for $14.40. Another way is that I am
out $8 on shipping for the other frames. Even though my optometrist
didn't charge me, I'm going to send him something (I only think that
it is fair). Also, there is an issue of my time, how much is my time
worth? I spent doing research as well as making the return.

In the end, I have a very nice pair of glasses that I like and will
keep, but are not exactly what I wanted (I wanted something taller).

[lakeunderrain]

Only good thing with online eyeglasses stores is PRICE.
Everything else can be trouble.
I ordered many eyegalsses online, but I am sure that many of those I
purchased have incorrect prescriptions. You can't find out wrong
prescription unless you take it to a local optometrist. If you just
'FEEL' your prescription is wrong and send it back to them, then they
will simply say that they are fine. There's nothing really you can do
about it.

Be careful with buying from overseas store. If something goes wrong,
it will be really difficult to deal with it.
It is NOT unusual to see problems with quality of eyeglasses these
guys make. To me it seems like they throw in whatever lens they have
in stock. Your prescription is -2.5 but they don't have it, then they
seem to throw in -2.75 or -2.25 lens. You ordered AR coating, but if
they don't have lens AR coated from factory, then they would just
throw in no AR coated lens and pray you don't complain. If you
complain and want to return, these guys are not very willing to pay
for return shipping.

If it is not the price, I would never purchase from online. But the
price difference is too huge to ignore.
My B&M store wanted to charge me $600 for progressive/transition lens.
(Just for lens)
Another B&M store I had to pay $400 for polycarbonate - Crizal AR
coated lens with new frame.
Their craftsmanship is superior than these online guys. Their customer
service is good, Something goes wrong with your glasses several years
later, then you can just go to these stores and they usually fix it
for no charge. all good services BUT it's way to expensive. $600 for
two pieces of plastic????


I hate to deal with online eyeglasses stores but I will keep using
them because the savings are too huge.

On Sep 30, 8:01 pm, Jankdc <d...@spinalalignment.com> wrote:
> I had mixed experience with buying online. While there are savings to
> be had, it hasn't been easier than going to a store and picking out
> frames. I've needed to educate myself and take responsibility for
> making it work.  I think that lots can go wrong, and I found that it
> is important to get your glasses checked by your optometrist no matter
> who you get your lenses from.
>
> I found glassyeyes a couple of months ago and the idea of $40
> eyeglasses that looked good excited me. So two weeks ago I went and
> got my first eye exam in over 7 years. I called optometrists and
> scheduled with one who said I could get my pd measurement. I was
> looking at different sites for taller glasses and found some that I
> liked at eyebuydirect and was thinking of some rimless from zenni or
> optical4less. I pulled the trigger on these:http://www.eyebuydirect.com/mu-fashion-glasses-p-2196.html. Cost was
> $40.57 shipped with ar coating and the 15% glassyeyes discount. I made
> the purchase Sunday 9/20 and got them next saturday (9/26).
>
> I was going to hold off on purchasing my next pair just to see how it
> went but came across firmoo from the discussion on glassyeyes forum:http://tinyurl.com/y95zys2
>

> I went to the website and saw these glasseshttp://www.firmoo.com/eyeglasses-p-1017.html.

[Ira Mitchell]

Overgeneralized. While it isn't as easy to deal with overseas outlets
when there is a problem, they're not tossing in random lenses and
hoping you don't notice.

Additionally, the comment "Something goes wrong with your glasses

several years later, then you can just go to these stores and they

usually fix it for no charge," is something that may be possible, but
try this with any of the mall stores 366 days after a purchase. I
think you'll find that they're quite unwilling to be a big help except
for a bullshit percentage off on a new pair.

Mistakes happen to be sure. Online and off.

Online I certainly lean towards places like EyeBuyDirect and
39DollarGlasses because they do stand more firmly behind their
products. Offline, I'll never do that again.

- Ira

[Jankdc]

I want to say that Eyebuydirect was very responsive with the return. I
have had no trouble with it. I am sure that if I wanted to, they would
have worked to make the prescription right.

While the glasses from Firmoo were shipped from China, on their
contact page, they list a New York address: http://www.firmoo.com/contact.html

[Mark Harrison]

Jankdc wrote:
> I want to say that Eyebuydirect was very responsive with the return. I
> have had no trouble with it. I am sure that if I wanted to, they would
> have worked to make the prescription right.

That's my experience as well.

To me, the primary thing to take into consideration with any of the
online glasses shops is that you need to keep a spare set of glasses
on hand in case you lose/break your current pair.

That's not really a problem given how much cheaper they are.

[sonshine]

I am fairly new to online glasses. Over a year ago I became
interested in this option for eyewear due to the cost savings. But it
wasn't until I found this site a few months ago that I finally felt
confident enough to give it a try.
I must say I am enjoying the experience so far, but there is also alot
of leg-work involved in purchasing eyewear online. The gals at work
who were incredulous when I told them I paid $27.67 for my new glasses
that I recently purchased online, quickly lost interest when I
explained the amount of involvement on the consumers part to obtain
eyewear online. Its not for everyone.
Currently I am waiting for a pair of prescription sunglasses - a
luxury I never thought I would be able to afford. And just because of
the ridiculously low price I slso threw in a pair of cute, pink little
metal-framed clear lens glasses as a back-up pair to my usual every
day glasses. I'm over the moon about the almost endless variety of
eyewear the online opportunities give to someone on a tight budget.
Things can go wrong of course, but in the one case I had thus far with
Zenni the return and refund process was very little hassle.

[Lucille]

On Oct 3, 2:15 am, sonshine <sfstif...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I am fairly new to online glasses.  Over a year ago I became
> interested in this option for eyewear due to the cost savings.  But it
> wasn't until I found this site a few months ago that I finally felt
> confident enough to give it a try.
> I must say I am enjoying the experience so far, but there is also alot
> of leg-work involved in purchasing eyewear online. The gals at work
> who were incredulous when I told them I paid $27.67 for my new glasses
> that I recently purchased online, quickly lost interest when I
> explained the amount of involvement on the consumers part to obtain
> eyewear online.  Its not for everyone.
> Currently I am waiting for a pair of prescription sunglasses - a
> luxury I never thought I would be able to afford.  And just because of
> the ridiculously low price I slso threw in a pair of cute, pink little
> metal-framed clear lens glasses as a back-up pair to my usual every
> day glasses.  I'm over the moon about the almost endless variety of
> eyewear the online opportunities give to someone on a tight budget.
> Things can go wrong of course, but in the one case I had thus far with
> Zenni the return and refund process was very little hassle.

I don't think it's that difficult to figure out how to buy glasses
online, I think it's kind of fun, really. The online vendors seem to
have a better selection than the local shops, too. I measured my own
PD, took a few measurements from my old glasses and I was ready to
shop. I'm too nearsighted to see how I look in frames when trying
them on in a store anyway. You need to have an idea of what styles
and shapes look good on you, I think.

I've gotten two pairs of prescription sunglasses now ($15 each). 80%
grey tint for bright sunny days and 50% amber for cloudy days or
evenings.

I'm thrilled about the whole online eyeglasses thing, too. Instead of
paying a small fortune for one pair of glasses and wearing them every
day for years, I can order up a new pair like I'd order a pair of
shoes.

>
> On Oct 1, 5:19 pm, Mark Harrison <m...@pixar.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Jankdc wrote:
> > > I want to say that Eyebuydirect was very responsive with the return. I
> > > have had no trouble with it. I am sure that if I wanted to, they would
> > > have worked to make the prescription right.
>
> > That's my experience as well.
>
> > To me, the primary thing to take into consideration with any of the
> > online glasses shops is that you need to keep a spare set of glasses
> > on hand in case you lose/break your current pair.
>

> > That's not really a problem given how much cheaper they are.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Chuck Knight]

Thinking back, I don't remember the ordering process for my first
pair, to seem difficult. Instead, I found it difficult to make myself
*place* the order. It was the unfamiliarity of it all...

What "amount of involvement" were you talking about?

-- Chuck Knight

[sonshine]

My co-workers seemed to instantly dismiss the idea when they realized
they had to do some measuring of previous glasses (well, its a good
idea anyway) and possibly converting some measurements they understand
from millimeters to inches, doing some research on different choices
of lenses, visiting numerous sites looking for the best deals and/or
styles that appeal to you - that sort of thing. Nothing too laborious
and well worth the effort as I explained to them. But these are all
women who have very busy households to manage in addition to working
outside the home so they seemed to lose interest. But I told them
they will think twice about it the next time they need to order
eyeglasses at their optometrist's office and perhaps then the extra
effort will seem worthwhile. I personally love to shop in general
anyway so its been a kick for me, but I do understand where they are
coming from as I've been in their shoes (feeling too many demands on
one's time as it is).

> >> eyewear online.  Its not for everyone.- Hide quoted text -

[Chuck Knight]

Why would you have them do mathematical conversions, etc? It's
unnecessary. It's like choosing a new pair of shoes, by measuring
them with a meter-stick, and then converting the dimension from
metric, to furlongs, to Imperial, and then eventually to a shoe size.

My advice to people takes the following form, assuming that they
currently wear glasses:

Look inside the temple arm of your eyeglasses. You'll see 3
numbers...something like 49-18-135. Those are the dimensions of the
eyeglass frame. The numbers are the lens width, bridge width, and
temple arm length, respectively.

Assuming you're happy with your existing frames, all you have to do is
to go to the online stores, and find glasses with dimensions similar
to the ones we just read. They don't have to match perfectly...but
try to keep it relatively close. That way, the glasses will be
similar to your existing pair, and it'll be a good introduction to the
world of online eyeglasses.

On the second and third pairs, you can get more adventurous! <wink>

Takes me 10 seconds to explain it. It's hardly difficult, and it
involves no calculations.

The lens options are definitely a little harder to understand, but
most people can get away with the default "medium index" materials,
anyway...and certainly for a first purchase.

-- Chuck Knight

[Sleepybears]

Hi,

I haven't ordered mine yet. But the main reason is cuz that there are
too many frames that I like :D, and I want my husband's help in
measuring my PD (that's the most difficult part for me). Other than
that, I'm really happy about the online shopping of glasses.

As one of the above said, I too agree that the online stores have more
choices of frames! I went to some different optometrists before to
decide which one I ordered my glasses from last time, and I found that
there were limited choices. Especially within my price range, I
couldn't really find much. Not to say that I was pretty disappointed
about the services of the both places I went to also. The optometrists
of both places seemed to be good, BUT some of the sales/ whoever who
served me provided really bad service... I think I'd rather go to
Walmart/ Costco if my husband's insurance would cover that. Besides my
friend told me even without insurance (she used to have insurance
before), Walmart/ Costco are cheaper than the private optometrists?! I
just can't believe how dishonest these people are. Their super bad
attitude/ services made me sick of going there too! Anyways, once they
found out I was not going to buy the really expensive designer frames,
they just wanted me to get out of the store asap...

On Oct 4, 7:05 pm, Chuck Knight <chuckkni...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Why would you have them do mathematical conversions, etc?  It's
> unnecessary.  It's like choosing a new pair of shoes, by measuring
> them with a meter-stick, and then converting the dimension from
> metric, to furlongs, to Imperial, and then eventually to a shoe size.
>
> My advice to people takes the following form, assuming that they
> currently wear glasses:
>
> Look inside the temple arm of your eyeglasses.  You'll see 3
> numbers...something like 49-18-135.  Those are the dimensions of the
> eyeglass frame.  The numbers are the lens width, bridge width, and
> temple arm length, respectively.
>
> Assuming you're happy with your existing frames, all you have to do is
> to go to the online stores, and find glasses with dimensions similar
> to the ones we just read.  They don't have to match perfectly...but
> try to keep it relatively close.  That way, the glasses will be
> similar to your existing pair, and it'll be a good introduction to the
> world of online eyeglasses.
>
> On the second and third pairs, you can get more adventurous!  <wink>
>
> Takes me 10 seconds to explain it.  It's hardly difficult, and it
> involves no calculations.
>
> The lens options are definitely a little harder to understand, but
> most people can get away with the default "medium index" materials,
> anyway...and certainly for a first purchase.
>
>      -- Chuck Knight
>

[sonshine]

Provided the 3 numbers you mentioned are available on the temple arm,
which in my case they were not probably due to the fact that I had the
glasses for years and the numbers wore away. Also for me the total
width of the frame is not really available via those 3 numbers and I
have found that dimension to be just as important, if not more so,
than the others. And I forgot to include in my previous post the
whole PD measurement that can be a bit of work for some folks to get
their hands on whether due to a reluctant optometrist, or unsure self-
measuring.
I'm not arguing against online glasses at all, or that its too much
work to bother with. I'm just saying the customer has to be a bit
more proactive just like with any "self-service" venue, which might
potentially turn off already hassled and harried persons.

> >> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[JeffreyDJ]

My eyeglasses did not have the measurement in the frame .., but it was
equally as easy. I just looked them up online and found them with the
measurements!

They were Joseph Aboud JA172 ... and online I had all of the necessary
measurements to come close to the original.

JJ

[Susan]

It took me a while to place my first order but since then (less than 3
months) I have 8 pair with 4 more on the way. Sure, theres some frames
I like better then others and wear more often but its all a learning
experience. I started off with the exact advice Chuck stated-- the
measurements--and went from there.

Before I placed my first order, I had told my husband about this blog
and how I could buy eyeglasses for $8! (If you remember, he was the
one that said NO ONE needs 6 pair of glasses.) If he *thinks* I am
paying $8 for my glasses, who am I to tell him otherwise? hehe

I have been sitting on the fence and hesitating on ordering
sunglasses. How often have I said that now? I really need to do that!

On Oct 4, 10:05 pm, Chuck Knight <chuckkni...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Why would you have them do mathematical conversions, etc?  It's
> unnecessary.  It's like choosing a new pair of shoes, by measuring
> them with a meter-stick, and then converting the dimension from
> metric, to furlongs, to Imperial, and then eventually to a shoe size.
>
> My advice to people takes the following form, assuming that they
> currently wear glasses:
>
> Look inside the temple arm of your eyeglasses.  You'll see 3
> numbers...something like 49-18-135.  Those are the dimensions of the
> eyeglass frame.  The numbers are the lens width, bridge width, and
> temple arm length, respectively.
>
> Assuming you're happy with your existing frames, all you have to do is
> to go to the online stores, and find glasses with dimensions similar
> to the ones we just read.  They don't have to match perfectly...but
> try to keep it relatively close.  That way, the glasses will be
> similar to your existing pair, and it'll be a good introduction to the
> world of online eyeglasses.
>
> On the second and third pairs, you can get more adventurous!  <wink>
>
> Takes me 10 seconds to explain it.  It's hardly difficult, and it
> involves no calculations.
>
> The lens options are definitely a little harder to understand, but
> most people can get away with the default "medium index" materials,
> anyway...and certainly for a first purchase.
>
>      -- Chuck Knight
>

[Jankdc]

My eyebuydirect return went effortlessly. I sent the package last
Wednsday using first class mail (as opposed to priority). I got a
message today (1 week) saying that my credit card has been refunded.