If you wear glasses, you know the drill. You need a new pair quickly, search online, and find frames for $15 or $20. That price is tough to ignore.
For years, I bought inexpensive men's prescription glasses. They never lasted long. Eventually, I realized that spending just a bit more gets you glasses that actually hold up. This is my story of moving from the absolute cheapest option to discovering a genuinely premium frame for under fifty dollars.
Why should you consider upgrading your frames?
My first pair cost $20 and lasted just three weeks. They felt fine initially, but problems emerged quickly. The screws loosened daily, and the plastic felt thin and fragile. I knew they were cheap, but I expected at least six months of use.
When you buy extremely cheap men's prescription glasses, the frames are often made from basic injection-molded plastic. This material is weak, with hinges being the primary failure point. They use tiny, flimsy screws that strip easily. You end up tightening them every week until the screw hole gives out.
The lenses are usually subpar as well. They come with minimal coatings, smear easily, and cleaning them feels like spreading grease around.
Verdict: These are suitable only as emergency backups. If you depend on them daily, they’ll fail fast. You might save $20 upfront, but you’ll likely buy another pair in two months. That works out to roughly $120 a year for six inferior pairs.
I then moved up to $40 glasses, typically from major online retailers. They look much better in photos, often using improved plastics or thin metals, and usually include coatings like anti-glare.
They were... okay. For a time. But the major hidden issue with big mid-range companies is often poor Quality Control (QC) and customer service. When you pay extra for lens upgrades, you expect perfection—but that’s not always what you receive.
I read reviews from customers who upgraded their lenses. One person paid an additional $48 for a Super Hydrophobic coating, only to find the lenses were "nearly impossible to clean." They had owned cheaper pairs from another brand, but this premium coating was defective, leaving the glasses constantly smudged. When they requested a fix, the company offered only a 50% store credit for a clearly faulty product.
Delivery and refunds are another common headache. One reviewer paid $246 for an order that never shipped. They waited weeks, dealing with automated chatbots that only said the item was "in transit." They finally got a refund only after filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General. That’s too much effort for a pair of glasses.
At this stage, you pay more but risk receiving a defective product or getting trapped in a customer service nightmare. Paying $40 doesn’t guarantee $40 worth of quality or support.
Verdict: Mid-range brands might offer better style, but they don’t guarantee better lens quality or reliable customer support. You could get lucky, or you might spend weeks fighting to get your money back.