I’m guilty of this myself, so don’t get the impression that I am coming down on you for doing this. But one trap I think that we have to be careful about falling into is automatically thinking that everything you order online or through a mail order company is automatically going to be a better deal than if you went to a traditional brick-and-mortar store.
I mean I haven’t shopped offline for Christmas gifts in probably five years. So like I said, I’m definitely not someone who is against ordering stuff online. But since I run a blog where I compare all kinds of consumer deals, I have found that from time to time the prices that you can get in a local store are sometimes better than what you can find when you shop on the Internet.
Over on my blog, one of the more popular topics is mail order contact lenses, and whether or not people can get a better deal when they shop online versus going to a local store. I looked into it and have tallied some results, and I think that I have a definitive answer.
In general, the answer is yes. You can get some really great deals on contact lenses of all types when you order online. But, there is a little bit of a caveat that you have to be aware of — not all mail order contact lens sites are created equal. Far from it.
In fact, what I found during my research is that there are some sites that are far and away better than others and will consistently offer better deals on just about every brand of contact lens there is.
Let’s take for example the question of rebates. If you’ve been buying contact lenses for any length of time, I’m sure that you know that there are tons of rebates that you can take advantage of that will drastically reduce the cost of your lenses over the long-term.
But now here’s the hassle of dealing with mail-in rebates (and again, I’m as guilty of this as the next guy, so don’t think I’m preaching to you here). If you forget to send in the rebate form (raise your hand if you’ve ever been guilty of this), or if you don’t include all of the required information, or if you basically put a period upside down or forget to dot an “I” or cross a “T,” then you’re not going to get your rebate.
Never mind the fact that when you actually do get your rebate, it can take weeks or even months for that check to come in the mail.
No thanks. I’d rather find a source to get my mail order contact lenses that offers instant rebates and saves me the hassle of having to do the whole fill-out-this-form-and-mail-it-in-and-then-wait-for-your-check thing.
So one of the things that I definitely looked for when I was reviewing sites that offer mail order contact lenses was companies that saved me the trouble and just gave me the rebate or the savings right on the spot.
Now that you know some of the criteria that I applied when I reviewed all of the sources for mail-order contact lenses that I could find, let’s talk about which ones came out on top.
First, head on over to this mail order contact lenses review page, where you’ll find video reviews of the top sites, along with some tips on saving money on just about any brand of contact lens that you can imagine.
And if you’re interested in coupons, you’ll find those there as well.
Also take a look at this mail order contact lenses video over on YouTube if you want a little bit more background.