Buy Crikey: Shop around for spec-tacular deals

Many customers feel better in the ones that cost several times as much as the cheapies. Photo / Thinkstock

Dodgy eyesight is common. Just look around you at the people wearing glasses. Bad eyesight can prove to be expensive. A friend just spent $1,500 on a pair of glasses.

It's something I've been dwelling on this week after having an eye health check. Although not essential, I'm also considering buying new frames and lenses - something that makes my purse squirm.

I've never recovered from an experience at the local optometrist who, in 2007, pressured me unsuccessfully to buy an $800 frame-and-lens package. In the end, I uploaded my prescription to 39dollarglasses.com and paid $76 including postage from New York for what turned out to be perfect glasses.

Fast forward six years and thanks to the better exchange rate the price for the same package is now $67.

In 2007, buying glasses online was a real no-brainer. But Specsavers' arrival in New Zealand the following year gave the market a big boot in the pants. This week at Specsavers, I could pick up frames and lenses for $69. I've also seen one-day-deals at other high street optometrists for eye exam, frames and lenses for the same price.

Not everyone wants to shop at the cheapest outlets. Sometimes it's worth paying more to be pampered. The Visique store I visited in Milford this week felt more luxurious and personal than Specsavers Takapuna.

And not everyone wants the bog-standard frames. Designer frames are big business. Many customers feel better in the ones that cost several times as much as the cheapies.

I asked a staff member at one of the shops I visited this week why the designer frames in my left hand cost exactly $400 more than the similar ones in my right hand. She agreed it was about that brand name and also that some designer glasses had spring-hinged arms.

It's definitely worth shopping around for designer glasses. Budget Eyewear has stores around New Zealand. Clearlycontacts.co.nz has cheap designer frames. So does SmartBuyGlasses.co.nz and a whole long list of .co.nz suppliers that I've never heard of. For true bargain-hunters there is a world of international providers with cut-price brand name frames.

There are downsides to buying glasses online. Although you can upload a picture of yourself and try the glasses on, it's not the same as having them on your face.

They also may not be adjusted exactly to the shape of your head - although YouTube has videos showing how to solve this problem.

Specsavers' managing director Graeme Edmond confirmed what two of his stores told me this week - that they will adjust frames bought elsewhere for free. The idea is to show potential customers the store's service ethos. Likewise, some Visique practices will charge for the adjustments and others won't.

Finally, it's worth mentioning that it's possible to get a "free" eye test on Flybuys at Visique and anyone with an AA card is entitled to a free test at Specsavers.

More deals

• Ray-Ban B2140 Original Wayfarer Sunglasses, $182.90 including postage, Smartbuyglasses.co.nz

• Designer frames from $38 (use code Winter) at ClearlyContacts.co.nz

• Free sun tint and UV coat on any second pair bought at John O'Connor Optometrists.