Now that it’s Autumn we are setting in for the chills and events of the season. Most of us would most likely even start thinking of putting our sunglasses away but just because it is colder doesn’t mean that we have to put those glasses away. The sun especially when driving can be harsh this time of year. But what if you need new sunglasses that’s why we will explore how to save money on sunglasses.
How much on average do they cost?
Well that depends on a few things. Are they designer, do you need a prescription, where are they from?
There are varying things that can alter how prices can be.
On average an eye test to gain a prescription will cost between £20 – £30. However some places will offer for a short time free eye tests and some people will be able to get eye tests done free via the NHS.
An average price of a designer pair of frames is around £180 but they can be a lot more expensive. With lenses on top depending on what you are needing can either be included in the price of the frames or push the cost up to £300, if needing something like Bifocal lenses.
Why are they so expensive?
Ultimately the reasons for the costs are always going to be the cost of manufacture, cost of the materials, transport and to make it profitable for the company.
Designer brands will always charge the higher prices for the simple reason they are designer and are widely recognized. Smaller companies will usually go with being more affordable but will also need to cover their own expenditures. As such there can be a range of prices from these companies.
Avoid Designer
If you are buying branded sunglasses thinking that they are better just because you are paying more, then they actually aren’t.
There are several different categorises of strength that sunglasses fall into and any pair sold in the UK need to by law be able to protect your eyes via the category they are in and from UV rays.
| Light Transmission | Category | Use | |
| 80%-100% (clear) | 0 | indoors / overcast day | |
| 43%-80% (light tint) | 1 | low sunlight | |
| 18%-43% (medium tint) | 2 | medium sunlight | |
| 8%-18% (dark) | 3 | bright sunlight | |
| 3%-8% (very dark) | 4 | exceptionally bright sunlight |
The sunglasses need to show their category as well to make it easier on the buyer to pick and to use the sunglasses in the correct circumstances. This will either be in their title, description or specifications. This will also alter according to the brand.
As such a cheaper pair would be able to do the same thing as the more expensive pair, and can even look just as good. They just wouldn’t have the brand that you would be paying extra for.
Buy Online
Whilst some stores are catching up to the fact that glasses are not that expensive to make the prices can be ridiculous.
This can be down to overhead costs to just having greater profit margins.
Online based stores are some of the best places to buy glasses and sunglasses at decent affordable costs. This also includes designer brands, so if you really want to have those designer shades then head online.
You can also get them as low as £9 such as from SmartBuyGlasses. You can even get an extra 10% knocked off if you are between 16-26 years old.
A great example of getting a better price online is that my husband bought a pair online for £15 that are comfortable, work well for him and look good, where Tesco was selling the same pair for £30.
This also feeds into the aspect of it is a good idea to shop around for the best price for you.
Prescription Sunglasses
Unfortunately for many people they can’t just pop on any pair of sunglasses, they will need the lenses altered to their prescription.
This means on average they will have to spend extra to get the prescription and the lenses so that they can still see correctly.
Online websites, such as SmartBuyGlasses deal with these as well as normal glasses so you can still get a great price.
