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MyGlasses
Introduction: MyGlasses is based in the US (New York). Pricing in USD. They sell single-vision and bi-focal/progressive lenses. Methods of contact include a toll free number, email, and mailing address. Payment methods include Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, and Discover. They are not mentioned by the BBB.
Impressions: The two biggest things that stand out about the site are (1) There's a very nice flash-intro when you first go to the site, giving a high-quality first impression, and (2) The focus seems to be on the name-brand designer glasses. They do offer frames/lenses in the discount range on the site, but the links on the landing page all go to the higher-priced designer frames. As mentioned, a focus seems to be on designer frames. They do offer an "under $30" selection, where the frames come to $0 (free), but the basic lenses for the frames start at $32. While various frames are offered (rimless, flexible, titanium, stainless steel, etc), most of those categories display the name brand designer frames which are obviously above that price point. Only the 3 standard frame measurements are displayed, with lens height and total width being notably absent. Single-vision lenses start at $32, while Bifocals start at $49, and Progressives start at $59. Photochromic, Polarized, and Fashion Tints are available as options. Adding an AR coating starts at $25 with 3 different possible AR coatings being offered.
Website and Ordering: The website is fairly stylish, and put together quite well for new users with one major caveat - some things are over-simplified. For example, browsing through lenses, your options are listed as "Basic, Good, Better, or Best" rather than "CR39, Polycarbonate, Aspheric Polycarbonate, and 1.67 Index". To be fair, there are mouse-over popups about the details of each lens, so everyone will get a popup as to what they're getting anyway as soon as they mouseover. The real issue is that terms like "Good, Better, Best" are relative. Polycarbonate lenses for example should be the BEST for children, but they're listed under "Good". Many people may not need/care about a high-index, so even though the 1.67 is listed as "Best", it may just be thrown away money for people who didn't really need it. The other issue is with the pop-ups themselves. They come up instantly, and can easily block the view of other options you're looking at. There's also no description for the "Single-Vision" stuff (popups for those refer to Progressives/Multi-focals), and the links provided refer to the allaboutvision.com website. Not particuarly confidence-inspiring that the links point elsewhere, but even worse is that clicking a link also changes the current window, taking you away from the site which means you have to click "back" to get back to the MyGlasses site. Someone who gets interested in the allaboutvision.com site may forget they were even in the middle of putting together an order when they got there. Ordering is really quite easy. Browsing for frames is reasonable, pictures are crisp/clear, and adding lens options is step-by-step. The cost of each option is clearly displayed, and it's all selected via option-boxes. Help along the way is plentiful, and one neat feature is that when selecting tint, after you choose a color, a little image comes up showing what a scene might look like under each intensity for that color. Aside from the issues with the pop-up boxes and external links, it's really well done, and a try-on feature is the only thing notably absent.
Pricing and Value: For pricing, you're looking at basically 2 options for the most part. Either the free frames ($32 for the lenses), or the name-brand designer frames. Stepping up to Polycarbonate only adds $4 to the price which isn't bad at all, all things considered. An AR coating is a bit higher at $25 though. As far as value goes, a pair of glasses can be had for under $40 shipped within the US which certainly keeps the glasses in the discount retailer range.
A basic pair of single-vision lenses comes to $37.95 shipped in the US, $49.95 shipped to Canada, and $65.95 shipped Internationally.
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