15/02/2026
Staff blog. Why it isn't a good idea to buy glasses and frames online.
We don't recommend buying glasses online for many good reasons.
When you look at a picture online of that fashionable glasses frame, it's not the end of the story. Prescription glasses are a complex medical device as well as a fashion statement.
The actual sizing online is unreliable, the fit and comfort difficult to know beforehand, and the fitting non existant. We have many visitors expressing dissatisfaction with their online purchases. Unfortunately for them,,opticians won't or can't help. After all, it's risky attempting to fit glasses bought online, can revoke guarantees, and comes with no financial gain to the non supplying high street optician. After all, you've bought glasses from their competition. Repairs and ongoing service aren't offered, you're pretty much on your own once you've purchased online. Not great!
Showroomers, people that try to use the high street Boutiques, generally for Designer eyewear, although we see it for unbranded glasses too, try to get round the fit issue by attending store and duping the staff into trying on all the glasses or their chosen online style or brand with the pretence of being a genuine customer, but in reality not so. This behaviour is all to common, sometimes occurring on a daily basis, and understandably frustrating for the high street business. The behaviour is easy to spot for experienced staff or Boutique owners, who stand off and limit service as soon as it's evident. This activity is harmful, time consuming, and costly to a bespoke service business like designer glasses opticians. We don't encourage or recommend engaging in this behaviour, after all, it's very unethical and doesn't allow a potential satisfactory outcome for either party and results in many opticians cutting visits short, and concealing stock for genuine customers.
The glasses buying process isn't just about a frame style either, it's also about the prescription and suitability of lenses taking into consideration the unique measurements that prescribing opticians don't and arent required to give and supply, but are very much needed, and the lens type and thickness outcomes can vary greatly. We can calculate this before you make an order and give good advice saving you costly mistakes.
Just frames. Buying frames online can leave a buyer in an awkward position too. The optician may not want to glaze it, the glazed results could be disappointing through no fault of the optician who wasn't able to advise best practice when choosing frames, and could even give a disclaimer if the frame is damaged whilst fitting lenses, not fun if the frames are an expensive brand. Then of course there's price which inevitably won't be so sharp if you've cut the frame profitability out of the opticians calculation by buying your frames elsewhere.
Vision difficulties are common when buying prescription glasses or lenses online, and not so easy to quickly resolve. Online suppliers hold a buyer responsible for supplying a
correct prescription and supplying all the accurate measurements needed which effect vision. Varifocals are an online no go.
For these reasons and more, we don't recommend buying prescription glasses and lenses online just to save a few pounds. Buy all means seek a great deal, but do so in the high street. The world would be poorer without it !
