Know of Any Cheap Contact Lens Websites?

railspider on 15/03/2017 - 10:36

I've worn contact lenses for a long time, and quickly realised I could save A LOT of money by buying lenses online rather than from my optometrist.

Roughly a decade ago I found a site called aalens.com that I've used happily since; it's a dodgy looking website based in Singapore but they always send real product and the prices are 50-75% less than what I was being charged retail. Plus they always chuck in a free 'trial' pair, so in a 6pack you're getting a bonus 16.67% of eyesight.

I'm curious where other sight-challenged OzBargainers buy their contacts, and if you know of any cheaper suppliers? I find local options like SpecSavers and Clearly to be noticeably more expensive (unless a good coupon is active) than aalens, but I'm sure other alternatives are out there.

At the end of the day if its an identical product and as long as prescription is followed, price is all that matters.

Health & Beauty

Comments

    • railspider on 15/03/2017 - 10:54

      As an example, I use a monthly toric lense - SpecSavers charge $102AUD per box for their generic brand. The equivalent 'real' CooperVision brand is 49USD/65AUD through aalens.

      Even with the 20% off specsavers is more expensive. I wouldn't expect them to be that cheap tbh, with how much they advertise.

      I was hoping users knew of some other cheap, lesser known, contact lens suppliers.

      • shortblack9 on 15/03/2017 - 11:27

        My concern going through super discount websites is that, I don't know if their supply chain is secure. To me, there is a high likelihood that counterfeit lenses are in their supply chain, unless proven otherwise. My eyesight/health is not worth trying to find the absolute cheapest price.

        I know that Spec Savers orders direct from manufacturers so their supply chain is pretty secure. (I worked for a contact lens manufacturer and can vouch for this ordering process).

        edit: I not longer work for a contact lens manufacturer. And have no loyalty to my ex-company, hence no mention of brands or names.

        • railspider on 15/03/2017 - 11:50

          SpecSavers do a lot of generic own-brand lesnes which must just be re-badged versions of the 'real' brand. They seem fine.

          I shared that concern, but I've been using my current supplier with a dodgy website for over a decade and have had no issues. It's why I'm hesitant to change supplier unless an OZBargainer has a good reference.

        • bdl on 15/03/2017 - 12:31

          @railspider: For my generic spec savers brand, I actually could peel the sticker off the top and it was identical to the brand name item :)

        • shortblack9 on 16/03/2017 - 10:55

          @railspider: Fair enough. There are no generic versions of my lenses. I found Spec savers most cost effective with the deals that get published every few months on OZbargain.

  • pantsparty on 15/03/2017 - 11:13

    What contacts do you use?

    • railspider on 15/03/2017 - 11:51

      Biofinity Toric - not sure if the brand matters, its what my optometrist recommended so I've stuck with it. Unfortunately it's one of the more expensive varieties.

  • oscargamer on 15/03/2017 - 11:44

    clearly.com.au

    used them

    very good

  • scuba79 on 15/03/2017 - 13:36

    Www.visiondirect.com.au and they are registered with most insurance companies so can claim if u have health insurance

  • Mad Max on 16/03/2017 - 11:32

    Hi railspider
    The site you mention aalens.com does not seem to work for me. Cannot open the page.

    • railspider on 16/03/2017 - 11:36

      I visited just before posting this and it worked fine, but noticed last the website was down (they had a Cloudflare CDN down message).

      Not a great sign…best to wait a couple days and see if it comes back up.

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