Which? magazine’s new report, ‘Buying glasses and contact lenses’ encourages its consumer readership to shop around online and in the high street to get the best price. However, unlike previous exposes on the profession, the report does not feature optics in a negative light, and at one point praises not a website or a multiple for its cheap pricing, but an independent.

The report, which appears in next month’s issue of the consumers campaigning publication – reported to represent over one million subscribers, the UK’s largest consumer organisation – will state that the same pair of spectacles can cost a patient £79 more from one outlet to the next, and a comparable three-month supply of contact lenses can be as much as £52.50 dearer.

‘A pair of glasses, hard contact lenses or a year’s supply of soft contact lenses can cost hundreds of pounds but you can cut down on costs by shopping around,’ the report reads, with predictably the Internet scoring well on price.

It singled out a pair of ‘designer glasses’ – Bench BCH-09 – and found that they were £90 and £120 in Boots and Optical Express respectively. Available in seven sites (including the priciest at boots.co.uk at £124), Which? found the same pair at £45 from selectyourspex.com which is almost £80 cheaper than the dearest price.

Down the high street Which? found an (unnamed) independent the best price of all for three months’ supply of Acuvue Oasys, at £45. The cheapest chain asks for £60, while Dollond & Aitchison was the costliest at £90.

Again, Boots’ website fairs poorly, with researchers stating it was the most expensive offer online (£59), while contactforlenses.com was cheapest (£37.50), and ‘£52.50 cheaper than the most expensive high street price’ the report pointed out.

Nevertheless, the report states that while online prices were cheaper overall for glasses and contact lenses, this was not true in every case. Indeed, ‘the high street is certainly still worth trying – and you may prefer the personal customer service, as it allows you to discuss your needs’.

The article profiles spectacle wearer, 61-year-old Anthony Lamb, who has saved 'hundreds of pounds' by getting his spectacles with photochromatic lenses online. 

Which's report reads: 'His most recent glasses cost £142.75 - around half of what he'd expect to pay on the high street'.

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W I Hooke
March 28th, 2009
Would this Mr Lamb submit himself and his spectacles for independent verification of his varifocal settings that he apparently successfully diy-ed?

PS: I am a Which? subscriber and have read the full report. I am a retired optometrist.