Why can’t I buy prescription glasses or sunglasses from you online?

I get it. It’s a little frustrating. You can buy glasses online so many places so why won’t we let you order prescription glasses from us too? We could, but we have a number of reasons why we choose not to.

Measurements

There are so many measurements that make a difference when it comes to your prescription. One you may already know if you’ve ordered glasses online before is the PD or the pupillary distance. It’s important and easy to mess up. If you’re off by even half a millimetre there’s the possibility of headaches, eyestrain and blurred vision. Measuring it yourself usually ends poorly so we’d rather make sure we took it for you and made sure it was right.

We also need to measure the OC or ocular centre. This one is extra tricky because it CAN’T be measured without the frame on you. It will vary from frame to frame depending on where your eye sits. Most online companies guess and just place the ocular centre in the centre of the frame, but that’s usually not where your eye sits. Just like the PD, if the OC is off you’re going to end up with headaches, eyestrain and blurred vision. We’re not really comfortable just taking a guess and putting your vision at risk. Are you?

None of those measurements matter if the lens doesn’t have a prescription so non prescription sunglasses or non prescription blue light glasses don’t pose a risk.

Frame Choice

The frame choice matters a lot depending on your prescription. A high prescription needs a totally different type of frame than a mild prescription. Progressives need different frames than bifocals than just distance glasses. That doesn’t matter if there’s no prescription in the frame. We’d rather guide you then hope for the best.

The other challenge is that buying frames online is like buying shoes, clothes or anything else where you need to know if it fits. Yes, this is an issue with any online glasses purchase, even the ones from us, but if you get a prescription pair you need to see with and it doesn’t fit the bridge of your nose, is a little to narrow or wide or the arms are too short, well, that’s much more of an issue than sunglasses or blue filtering lenses that you only wear part time. Don’t get me wrong, we’d rather all of your glasses fit you properly and if you come by we’ll help you find a pair that fits you whether you wear them sometimes or all the time.

Lens Choice

There are literally hundreds of lenses available, not to mention different styles and designs. Do you need just distance glasses? Just near? Office lenses or progressives? High index or low? Wide corridor, narrow, long or short? Digital lenses or conventional? If digital lenses, which type? And within each of those choices there are many more questions and choices that come after. It would be nearly impossible (or at least extremely confusing) to offer all of those choices online so we would be forced to simplify it to only a few choices. That means you’re less likely to get the best lens or best design for your needs. We’d rather help you through that process using our knowledge and expertise to find the lens that will work best for you.

For a lens without a prescription none of those issues are a concern. We’ve sourced the lowest price lens that still meets our quality standards (meaning there won’t be flaws in the lens itself and the coatings are high quality) and passed those savings on to you.

Adjustments

Ok, so this one does matter whether there’s a prescription in your lens or not, but it matters more if there’s a prescription lens. Any pair of glasses can be uncomfortable if they aren’t properly adjusted. It can pinch your ears or nose, sit too high or too low and generally not be awesome. Once we put a prescription in there however, those discomforts can become something that impacts your vision.

Two adjustments you’ve probably never heard of before are wrap and pantoscopic tilt. The first one is pretty obvious, it’s how the frame wraps around your head. The second is the slight tilt or angle the frame makes with your face (with the top of the frame being a little further from you and the bottom slightly closer). We frequently see glasses that haven’t been adjusted and are too flat or have an incorrect tilt. This can cause blur, distortion, dizziness, headaches and a myriad of other problems. It’s a quick fix to adjust but we can’t make those adjustments if you’re not here. We don’t recommend trying to adjust that home as without training and the right tools it’s easy to break a frame.

If the frame has nose pads, it’s important to make sure they’re properly adjusted so the frame sits at the right height but also properly balances the weight of your lenses between your ears and nose. The temples, or arms, need to be adjusted properly too to keep your glasses from slipping down your nose or pinching too tightly. If these are glasses you’re wearing for a few minutes a day, that may not matter much, but if you’re wearing them all day, every day for everything because you need them to see that will quickly get frustrating.

The Final word

I hope all of this helps explain why we don’t want to sell you glasses with your prescrption online. We’d love to help you out in person with your prescription though and make sure that your glasses are perfect and designed just for you.

If you do still want to purchase non prescription glasses online and support a small, local business, click below and choose from our selection of name brand frames and sunglasses!