Mind & Body

Updating or replacing your specs is something that cannot be avoided but this simple necessity can be eye-wateringly expensive from a high street optician. Do you really have to pay around £150 for good quality attractive frames, single vision lenses and all the coatings? Well you’ll be very glad to hear that the answer is no, not any more.

UK-based Selectspecs.com, one of the longest standing online glasses retailers, is offering complete glasses for just £5, or £8 for semi-rimless, which makes them the cheapest glasses in the world! However, the price is the only cheap thing about them.

The 40 stylish frames in this range are excellent quality, as good as any frame sold by a high street optician, and the lenses are made to order from the highest quality material, just as with any other pair from SelectSpecs. Plus every pair comes with the three essential lens coatings – anti-scratch, anti-reflection and UV – at no extra cost. All other online retailers and high street shops charge extra for some or all of these coatings that are vital for the performance and longevity of the lenses.

How do your order glasses online?

You may be unsure of how to go about ordering glasses online but the process is surprisingly straightforward. All you need is a copy of your prescription and the guidelines on the SelectSpecs website will take you through each step. Alternatively, you can post or scan and email a copy of your prescription to the SelectSpecs team and they will do it for you. The company’s registered dispensing opticians are also happy to help with any queries and will respond personally to emails.

Opticians are legally obliged to give you a copy of your prescription, and will usually do so as a matter of course, but to order online there is one thing you will need that they are not obliged to give you – your pupillary distance (PD) measurement - the distance between your pupils. You can ask for this at the time of your eye test but if you already have a prescription and just need the PD measurement, Selectspecs.com can post you a PD ruler and guidelines on how to use it so that you can do it yourself. It’s a very easy non-technical process.

So how do they do it so cheaply?

The fact is that glasses don’t have to be as expensive as they have become. Opticians play a vital role but it’s become blurred with that of being a retailer. As an online shop, SelectSpecs has no expensive overheads to pass on to their customers which means that, along with their huge range of standard and designer frames, advanced lens specifications and designer sunglasses, they are able to make offers like this to enable everyone to enjoy the freedom of perfect vision.

Lenses in the £5/£8 range can be made to sphere powers of -6 to +6 and cylindrical powers of –2 to +2, which covers the majority of people. For those whose prescriptions fall outside of this range, they offer hundreds of frames and lenses at fantastic prices, so it doesn’t take a great deal more to still save considerable sums of money.

www.selectspecs.com

NB: Information correct at time of publishing - 1 June 10.
Up-to-date information can be found the on the SelectSpecs website.

Images were kindly supplied by SelectSpecs who retain copyright.
They are used with their permission.