Avoid The Markup
In the past, I have sung the praises of buying eyeglasses from Zenni Optical because their prices were very reasonable. They had some styles that would suit if you wanted to save your authentic vintage glasses for special occasions and didn’t want to risk damaging them doing every day activities.
I recently learned there was a little bit of controversy. The prices are low because their is no middleman, and they do not do large scale advertising. That is ingenuity and not an issue. What is troubling to some people is that the frames are made at a factory in China, and some people choose to opt out of buying items from overseas when they can, unless, of course it is an item native to the area. I will point out to you that many of the high end glasses, particularly plastic frames, or those that you buy at your optometrist, are most likely made in China as well, save for a few designers. They just have a much higher mark up to cover the costs of the layers in between from getting them from factory to store.
So, the question remains: what is more important in your eyeglass purchase? If you are looking to only buy frames made in the United States, then Zenni glasses are not for you. If you probably were not going to purchase a pair of designer frames and on your next trip to the optometrist you notice that every frame you select seems to be made in China anyhow, you might as well save a significant amount of money and buy direct from Zenni, and have access to a wider variety of styles, starting from $8.00.
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