Med-Psych.com

Last time I was at Costco I noticed they have a small vision section. As I'm a big fan of Costco, and I'm in need of finding a cheap pair of glasses, I decided to check out their services.

They told me they charge $49 for an eye exam, but this exam does not cover a contact lens exam. I didn't ask if the eye exam includes dilation.

They had frames that ranged in price from around $40 up to $140. Most frames seemed to be in the $60-70 range.

Pricing out for single vision lenses (not bi-focals), they do offer plastic for around $50. I didn't ask if that includes any special coatings, but I'm thinking it may.

He also said that they sell the polycarbonate lenses with all options, including UV coating, scratch resistent coating, and anti-reflecting coatings for $74. By comparison, the cost of the polycarbonate lens with anti-reflective coating at Lenscrafters is over $300. Of course, with Costco, you have to wait until your glasses are made; wherease, with Lenscrafters, your lenses are made right then and are typically done within an hour.

I didn't ask about their other lens options, such as high index lenses.

If you have any comments or opinions on Costco's vision department, I'd be interested to hear it by posting in this forum.

I'm almost due for my annual eye exam and I'm wondering if the eye doctors at Costco are as good as a private optician? I would think someone in private practice would probably be better than someone working for a big corporation. Also, can you then take your prescription and buy your glasses somewhere online to save money?

What do you think the quality difference is between Costco, a private optician, and online stores like Zenni for the lenses and frames are?

Looking4glasses,

I decided to make another post to clarify the difference between optician and optometrist (and ophthalmologist) as you used the word optician meaning eye doctor, but you seemed to mean optometrist (a basic eye doctor). When you go to a place like Costco or Lenscrafters, you'll see an optometrist to test your eyes.

All places that I'm aware of use licensed optometrists, which means that whether you go to a place like Costco or Lenscrafters, you'll see someone with the same level of training and licensing as someone in private practice. Some people believe that you get a more personal experience when you go to a private practicioner. Other people feel that there is a conflict of interest in that private practice optometrists almost always make money off of the glasses and frames that they sell. At a place like Costco, the optometrist doesn't make any extra money whether you buy your glasses there or not, so if they make a recommendation for a specific type of lens, they probably aren't just trying to sell you the product with which they make the most profit. Having said that, though, I do have to say that when I went to Lenscrafters last year, the optometrist was strongly recommending the anti-reflective lenses - saying that some of my blurry vision could have been from eye fatigue. While there does seem to be some basis for her recommendation, it did seem like she was maybe trying to get me to buy something that may not make much of a difference. I'm still not convinced I benefit from anti-reflective lenses as I don't have a strong enough prescription to create much glare. That's a separate issue though.

At Costco, they seem to have a decent quality lens with most of the options you'll want, including a decent quality anti-reflective coating for a good price. If you want one of the top of the line lens treatments like Crizal Avance or Zeiss Purecoat , I think you'd have to go to one of the private optometrists and check to see if they actually offer the desired lens treatments before you go. The superior features of these lenses seem to be increased coatings that will resist oils and and dirt with lenses that clean more easily, while also being very durable and scratch resistant. From what I can tell, the lenses at Costco are going to be very good quality but I haven't been able to find anything specific. Going to a private practitioner would give you an option for one of these extra high quality lens treatments, but it will also likely cost you significantly more than the very good lenses at Costco. There was a nice discussion on this topic last year with someone who wound up buying the Crizal Avance. The lens was about $250 vs a very good but not top of the line lens from Costco for $74.

I'm actually going to be due for my annual eye exam in August and I'm trying to decide which way to go myself. I got super cheap glasses online from Zenni Optical last year and they have served me very well. However, my insurance will pay for a new pair of glasses this year so I'm actually deciding between Costco and getting something like Crizal Avance. I'm leaning towards going the Costco route as I don't know that I'll appreciate the difference. If I ever need a spare pair for which insurance won't pay, I'll wind up ordering through Zenni again, unless another place comes along that seems as good.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask.