note: while believed to be accurate at the time it was written, information provided is not updated regularly & may be out of date
LBW Eyewear
"your online optical store"
http://www.lbweyewear.com
Introduction:
LBW Eyewear is located in the US (California). Pricing in USD. They sell single-vision and bi-focal/progressive lenses. Methods of contact include phone, fax, mail, and e-mail addresses. Payment methods include Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, Discover, and PayPal. The BBB has LBW Eyewear listed with an "F" rating, with 8 resolved/closed and 8 unresolved/no-answer complaints.
Impressions:
LBW Eyewear's glasses start below $20 and include free anti-scratch and UV coatings. The site is basic, but easy to use. The BBB rating is a little concerning - they've only been open since the latter part of 2006 and in less than 3 years managed to get 16 BBB complaints, only resolving half of them. That's quite a high number of complaints for such a small time period, particularly starting off since retailer volumes in the initial years are usually somewhat low and take a while to grow. Had they all been resolved this would be less than an issue but a high complaint rate in a short time frame combined with a 50% resolution rate doesn't particularly inspire confidence. This is of course speculation, but I'll leave it at that and let others do their own research and draw their own conclusions.
Frame selection in the under-$20-range is quite decent with close to 50 frames offered in that price category, most offered in multiple colors. A larger amount of frames is offered at a higher price, but with most staying below the $40 mark, certainly qualifying them as a discount retailer.
Single-vision lenses (1.56 index) come free with the frames and include free UV and scratch-resistant coatings. Indexes are available up to 1.67. Polycarbonate, Photochromic, Polarized, and Tinted lenses are also available. An AR coating adds only $5 to the price.
Website and Ordering:
The website is simple and easy to use. Everything is quite large in size (fonts, images, layout, etc). This may be a benefit for those who have trouble seeing the screen, while others may dislike the need to continously scroll to get to another part of a page. Pictures of frames are fairly decent, with a slight amount of blurriness - not major, but still noticable. Frames can't be sorted beyond the category, although frames are divided into sub-categories where appropriate. There are no "try on" features. While basic information about each frame (including measurements) is provided, details about the frames and lens options are rather sparse and are confined to the single information page on the website. No information about taking a PD measurement is included.
Ordering is relatively basic, and everything is included on a single page when a frame is selected. Lens options are typically chosen from drop-down lists, and vary in representation from most other sites - for example, Polarized options are included in the tint list. There's a degree of "clutter" with all the options being packed into a few short lists. It's simple enough for single-vision lenses without extras, but the multi-focal and tint lists have a very cluttered appearance to them.
Overall, the layout is fairly user-friendly but not terribly new-user-friendly, particularly due to the lack of any "try-on" features or any detailed information related to the lenses or PD-measurement, as well as the clutter in the lens options.
Pricing and Value:
Pricing varies considerably. The "specials" page has frames listed for $9, but about $20 is what most people are likely to spend. Just about all frames are below $40 regardless which includes bendable frames, rimless frames, etc.
As far as value goes, value is actually quite good. Just about anything can be found in the $9-$40 range, AR is reasonable at $5, and shipping is a fair price at $6.50 ($11.95 internationally). A very basic pair can be had for under $20 altogether.
| FRAMES | $19.98 (anywhere from $9-40) |
| Single-Vision Lenses | |
| 1.56 | FREE |
| 1.59 Polycarbonate | +9.95 |
| 1.60 Water-Repellant/Anti-Fog | +19.98 |
| 1.61 | +19.95 |
| 1.67 | +39.95 |
| Photochromic (60% dark - grey or brown) | +49.95 |
| Bifocals | |
| Flat Top | +15.95 |
| Rounded Top | +34.95 |
| Line Blended Out | +54.95 |
| Executive | +104.95 |
| Ultra-Thin 1.61 Flat Top | +59.95 |
| Photochromic (grey or brown) | +69.95 |
| Progressives | |
| 1.56 (no-line multifocal) | +69.98 |
| 1.61 (no-line multifocal) | +129.98 |
| 1.67 Free Form (no-line multifocal) | +199.98 |
| 1.74 Free Form (no-line multifocal) | +249.98 |
| Photochromic 1.56 (grey or brown) | +89.98 |
| Photochromic 1.61 (grey or brown) | +149.98 |
| Photochromic 1.67 (grey or brown) | +249.98 |
| OPTIONS | |
| Anti-Reflective (AR) coating | +4.95 |
| Anti-Reflective (AR) plus Anti-Radiation coating | +19.95 |
| Tint Solid (grey/brown/pink/yellow/purple/red/green/blue) | +4.95 |
| Tint Gradient (grey/brown/pink/yellow/purple/red/green/blue) | +9.95 |
| Polarized (brown/grey/G15) | +59.98 |
| SHIPPING | |
| US - USPS First Class | +6.50 |
| US - USPS Priority | +12.95 |
| International Air Mail | +11.95 |
A basic pair of single-vision lenses comes to $26.48 shipped to the US, or $31.93 shipped internationally.
A basic pair of bi-focal lenses comes to $42.43 shipped to the US, or $48.88 shipped internationally.
A basic pair of progressive lenses comes to $96.46 shipped to the US, or $101.91 shipped internationally.
NOTE that you can subtract $10.98 from these prices if you go with the cheapest frames ($9.00 vs $19.98)
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