Getting the Best Price on Contact Lenses
Compared with glasses, contact lenses can be expensive. However, pricing varies greatly. With online competition it really pays to do comparison shopping. This is a look at pricing across several web sites for my personal contact lens order at the end of May 2020.
My brand of contact lens is Air Optix Night and Day Aqua. These are disposable lenses designed to be worn for a month and then thrown away. For the best price I always order them in four boxes of six for a year supply (2 boxes for each eye).
In comparison shopping online I found that the price for an annual supply ranged from $180 to $297. Obviously this is a huge difference for what is exactly the same product.
The winner by a large margin was Lens.com. The price of my contact order from Lens.com came out to $179.80 after a rebate of $15 a box. This was a $65 savings over Costco which had the second lowest price.
UPDATE MAY 2021: Lens.com had a price of 4 boxes for $49.49 each with $39.96 taxes and fees and $7.95 shipping. However this included a mail-in rebate for $110. This came out to $34 a box after rebate. Contact Lens King total with taxes and shipping was $176.96 or $44 a box. No other sites were close on price.
UPDATE JULY 2020: We found a comparable low price on contacts from Contact Lens King. The price per box was $44.95 with $7.95 shipping and handling. This was a total of $187.75. Slightly more than Lens.com after the rebate but no need to submit and wait for a rebate.
However, it did take some time to calculate the actual price at all sites. In addition, prices will fluctuate with promotions. I checked again after three weeks and the prices had not changed. Nevertheless, when I order again next year I will redo my comparison.
These are lessons I learned from looking for the best price on contact lenses.
- Look at multiple sites. Of course, this is obvious but with contact lenses it really pays to compare.
- Keep an eye out for promotions and rebates. Almost every site will have some type of special offer. This can make it hard to compare as there will be a price per box and some promotions and rebates require you to order a minimum of usually 4 boxes. There also may be rebate promotions from manufacturers. If this
- Consider shipping and handling costs. Many sites offered free shipping at a certain price level. Lens.com charged a $7.95 shipping fee and a whopping $32 handling fee. This added $10/box to the cost. However, even with this added cost the total price was significantly lower than the competition.
- Read the fine print. Promotions and rebates may have a catch. Of course, shipping and handling can be a potentially large cost.
- Consider an annual subscription. Some sites offer a significant discount if you subscribe to get your contacts delivered annually. In most cases you can cancel this subscription at any time. However, once again read the fine print.
Lens.com had a listed price of $49.99 a box. However, they also had a hidden charge of $10 a box for shipping and handling. Still this put them at $59.99, slightly below Costco, the next lowest price at $61.23.
The kicker that made Lens.com a decisive winner was a $15 rebate per box. This lowered the effective price of the lenses to $44.99 when considering shipping and handling.
Of course, next year this may change. In the past I have received coupons from Costco that have made them the low price winner.
Note that when ordering contacts online you still need a prescription. It works the same way at most sites. You can enter your doctor’s information and they contact them or for instant approval you can simply upload a copy of your prescription.
The table below shows the prices from my comparison shopping at the end of May 2020. Note many sites mention places like Target, Wal-mart and Walgreens as having good prices. In my shopping the prices for these places was among the HIGHEST. I did not follow through on details because I saw there were better deals elsewhere.
Contact Lens Pricing May/June 2020
| Company | Price Per Box | Promotion | Total Estimated Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lens.com | 49.99 | $60 rebate on 4 boxes, $39.84 shipping | 179.8 |
| Costco | 61.23 | 244.92 | |
| Discount Contact Lens | 69.99 | $20 off coupon, free shipping over $99, 20% off with subscription | 259.96 |
| Contacts Direct | 82.99 | 15% off, free shipping | 282.166 |
| 1800Contacts | 79.19 | $20 rebate, free shipping | 296.76 |
UPDATE JULY 2020: We found a comparable low price on contacts from Contact Lens King. The price per box was $44.95 with $7.95 shipping and handling. This was a total of $187.75. Slightly more than Lens.com after the rebate but no need to submit and wait for a rebate.
