5 Tips-How to Buy Contact Lens
If you wear glasses and are wanting to try contact lenses, you
probably have lots of questions, including where to buy contact
lenses, how to get the best price and if buying online or buying
a private label lens is a good idea. Maybe you should just stick
with you local eye doctor for your lenses?
1- Did you know that you have the right to have your contact
(and glasses) prescription copied so that you can shop around
for eyewear? The legislation, in Feb. 2004 gave that right to
consumers in all 50 states. This means that you do not have to
buy contact lenses only from your eye care practitioner. You can
shop around anywhere that contacts are sold. Doing this gives
you a better selection at a better price.
2- You may be starting your search for contacts with
preconceived notions as to which are the best source to buy
contact lenses, throw those out! Do not discount any place that
sells contacts, look into what they have to offer and what their
prices are; you might be surprised at where you will find the
best quality and price.
3- When you buy contact lenses, you need to focus on value and
not on price alone. The overall value includes the availability
of the contacts that you use, if they accept your insurance (and
if you need to do paperwork or if they do it for you), ease of
getting the contacts (do they deliver), their customer service
department and price. Taking all of these points into
consideration will help you to find the absolute best value for
you.
4- You may be tempted to buy another brand of contact lens to
save money. If you are thinking of doing this, you must be aware
that by law, retailers must sell the exact same lens as
prescribed. However, there is a loophole to the law that could
allow you to buy contact lenses that are the same quality, but
at a much better price. The loophole is that some manufacturers
sell one type of contact lens under more than one brand name.
For example, the same contact lens sold under a brand name and
under a private label.
5- The best places to start your search are, of course, your eye
doctor, the internet and wholesale retailers as well as mail
order houses. Be sure that you know exactly what type of contact
lens you need to purchase before you agree to anything. Ask
about their return policy if you receive a contact lens other
than what you ordered.