So, a member of our staff went shopping for a new pair of progressive prescription eye glasses and quickly discovered the similarities share by our experience shopping for a new car.  Big sales pitch, huge markup and attempts to create a sense of urgency by stating that their “fantastic”  offer will expire the minute I exit the premises.

For us, the big dramatic pitch signaled the presence of  a huge markup as well as the realism that the staff are open to negotiation.  If you like negotiating, this is good news.  However if you’re like most folks, you find the situation both annoying and deceptive.

So, after comparing, prices, quality and customer service, we actually decided to pay a little more and get them from Costco.   A major factor was that Consumer Reports recommends Costco because of the quality job that their lab does.
We found the quality of the glasses as well as the opticians at Costco to be top quality.

That being said, you’ll have to wait at least a week for your new pair of glasses to arrive at your local Costco store.

We also checked online optical options, but we were apprehensive about purchasing such important item online.
That being said, the prices appeared to be much lower.  We simply could not find enough independent evidence to suggest that it was a safe bet.  So we stuck with what we know.