8 Best Places to Get Contacts Online
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Finding the best contacts online comes down to factors like variety of selection, price, and customer service. See how we compare the top online retail brands like LensCrafters, Warby Parker, and others.
- Best for accepting insurance:1-800 Contacts | Skip to Review
- Best for specialized lenses:ContactsDirect | Skip to Review
- Best full line of eyewear:GlassesUSA.com | Skip to Review
- Best for quality customer service:Lens.com | Skip to Review
- Best for reusable contact lenses:LensCrafters | Skip to Review
- Best for stylish glasses and sunglasses:Warby Parker | Skip to Review
- Best for discounted pricing:ContactLensKing.com | Skip to Review
- Best for a large selection:Walmart Contacts | Skip to Review
Around 45 million people in the United States wear contact lenses to improve their vision. In 2018, approximately 22% to 30% of adults in the United States bought lenses online instead of directly from healthcare professionals or in stores.
Despite the arguments of political opponents to the contrary, premium increases had been going on for decades before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. In fact, the average rate of yearly premium increases decreased after the law was passed in 2010, according to Forbes.
The reasons for this vary but include:
- affordability
- convenience
- fast delivery
- wide selection
Are contact lenses medical devices?
Yes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers contact lenses as medical devices and regulates them for safety and effectiveness for vision correction. They should only be purchased from reputable sources and manufacturers. In this article, we’ll provide information on the top choices for online contact lens retailers.
Keep in mind that some eye doctors and people who wear contact lenses advise against using online retailers to buy contacts, citing experiences with incorrect contacts and low quality products.
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Here’s what we looked for to find the best places to buy contacts online:
- Solid reputations: We omitted retailers who have an extensive history of complaints across multiple areas, including customer service and product quality. We omitted those with low ratings or a history of fraudulent practices. We checked out consumer reports on sites such as Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
- Quality and selection: We chose sites that offer a wide variety of contact lens brands from trusted manufacturers using modern lens materials.
- Ease of mind: We looked for those that offer money-back guarantees and price-match guarantees.
Best for accepting insurance
1-800 Contacts
- Insurance accepted? yes
- Free shipping and returns? yes
1-800 Contacts was an early entry into the online contact lens market. They’re still one of the largest sellers, offering an extensive selection of brands and contact lens types, including dailies and trifocals.
1-800 Contacts offers a best price guarantee for any of their U.S.-based competitors. If you see a better price elsewhere, initiate an online chat on their website. They’ll verify the lower price, and reduce their cost accordingly.
Once your order is on file, your contacts will ship on the day you order them. Standard shipping is free and takes 5 to 7 business days. If you need them sooner, rush shipping is available.
They accept vision insurance. Their in-network insurance partners include:
- Anthem
- United Healthcare Vision
- Davis Vision
- Spectera
If you have an expired prescription, you can update it by taking an online vision exam for $20. Austra Health editor Megan Severs tested this service during COVID-19 lockdowns. She found it to be user-friendly and was impressed at the company’s ability to work with her doctor to get prescription information.
“I was able to get new contacts without needing to wait for my eye doctor to reopen. I really appreciated that they found a solution for this,” she says. Note that this vision exam doesn’t take the place of an annual comprehensive exam, however.
1-800 Contacts also offers 24/7 online support, plus free returns and exchanges.
The 1-800 Contacts app for iOS, which features an express prescription renewal exam, consistently gets 5-star ratings from users.
Pros
- best price guarantee
- low cost online vision exam is available
- 24/7 online support
- free returns and exchanges
- accepts vision insurance
