Contact Lenses
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Where to Buy Contact Lenses

Your Eye Test and Contact Lens Fitting

You can't have an eye test online, so visit your local opticians, this usually costs around £20.  Until you are used to contact lenses you'll want to have a fitting at an opticians to explain how to put them in (a bit scary at first) and clean them if you are going to reuse them (necessary for hard lenses).  You will want to find out the cost of a contact lens fitting from the local opticians you are considering as some opticians offer a discount on contact lenses if you have a fitting with them.

Price comparison searches for Contact Lenses (on Kelkoo.co.uk)

Searches for solutions, disposable, dailies and mail order contact lenses.

• Kelkoo's Contact lens category

  • Acuvue contact lenses (by Johnson and Johnson)

  • Bausch and Lomb Soflens contact lenses and solutions

  • Ciba Vision Focus and Freshlook contact lenses (dailies) and solutions

  • Coopervision contact lenses and solutions

  • Bifocal contact lenses - also known as multifocal and progressive contact lenses

Where to Buy Contact Lenses

The best deals can be had for people with relatively simple contact prescriptions who can wear soft lenses.  Several high street brands are competing in the marketplace for contact lenses by post.  Places to look include:

• Specsavers Opticians - High street retailer

• Dolland and Aitchison - High street retailer, but no online store or prices.

• Lensesbymail.com - a colleague of mine uses this US-based site that ships internationally.

• Vision Express don't currently have an online store for contact lenses.

• Vision Direct - an online retailer.

• Asda-contactlenses.co.uk - Asda's contact lens department

• Tescoopticians.com - supermarket's contact lens department

• Getlenses

• Directsight.co.uk - online contact lens retailer

Keeping the Costs Down if you have a Complicated Prescription

If you have a complex prescription and your optician is recommending expensive toric lenses (for perhaps £25 per month), you may want to consider rigid gas permeable lenses.  They cost a good amount less as you will only need to buy solutions to maintain them.  They are less comfortable than soft lenses, but my some opticians claim they can offer better vision than soft lenses.  If buying Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) lenses, Dolland and Aitchison offer a service that includes solutions and provides new lenses every 6 months.  So, after 6 months you will have two sets of lenses, one of which can be used as a spare, and have had solutions for 6 months.  You might then want to cancel the contract, keep your lenses and buy solutions over the counter from a chemist.

Bear in mind, that if you buy rigid gas permeable contact lenses, you will probably lose several in your first few years of wearing them, so having a spare pair or two is a good thing.

Moneysavingexpert.com on contact lenses - some research on how to save when buying mail order contact lenses.