Shipping Info: Zenni offers a wide range of shipping options to over 200 countries. If your frames are damaged in the process, let them know, and they’ll figure out a replacement ASAP.
Why We Love It: Warby Parker is one of the most popular online glasses retailers — and for good reason. The company’s convenient (and complimentary) at-home try-on program lets you pick five frames delivered directly to your doorstep. Choose from dozens of new glasses and sunglasses, many of which feature clean lines, minimalist design touches, and subtle detailing. The online quiz and the corresponding iPhone app — which lets users virtually try on dozens of glasses and sunglasses — are both helpful when it comes to narrowing down frames. Prescription glasses start at $95, and blue-light lenses can be added for a flat fee of $50. As an added bonus, you can also buy contact lenses from Warby Parker’s site with a prescription from your optometrist.
Warby Parker also has several store locations throughout the country, allowing shoppers to schedule in-person eye exams for new lenses and contacts as well as browse frames in real life.
Shipping Info: Warby Parker offers free shipping both ways and will typically get you your glasses 7-10 days after billing is approved. Once you get the goods, they have a 30-day free return policy.
Best for Exercise: Roka
Why We Love It: If you’ve ever tried running, cycling, or working out while wearing glasses, you know that finding a pair that won’t slide around your sweaty face — or worse yet, fall off — is key. Enter Roka: a premium eyewear brand that makes frames designed for activity. They’ve incorporated features like no-slip grips on the arms and nose bridge of frames, water-repellent lenses, and spring hinges that never need to be tightened. Roka makes a curated range of eyeglass frames and sunglasses, but with enough variety that it should be easy to find a pair that reflects your style. One reviewer for the Lockhart frames shared, “I’ve worn these to HIIT workouts and hot yoga and they truly, truly stay in place. A huge win.”
Shipping Info: The brand offers free shipping on orders over $150. Prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses are built to order and usually ship within five to 10 business days. Non-prescription glasses typically ship within three days. Returns and exchanges are accepted within 30 days of receipt, though if you’ve bought a pair with prescription lenses, you’ll have to pay a $20 restocking fee.
Best Charitable Company: DIFF Eyewear
Why We Love It: Giving back is a major part of DIFF Eyewear’s mission. Since 2015, they’ve donated more than three million pairs of reading glasses as part of their partnership with Sightsavers, a global charity that works to prevent avoidable blindness and advocate for disability rights. In addition to their laudable mission, their frames are extremely chic. They’ve got hundreds of handcrafted frames, from statement-making pairs to minimalist ones. Customers also have the option to upgrade their glasses with thinner lenses, blue light-blocking technology, or photochromic lenses (a.k.a. clear lenses that darken in the sunlight).
Shipping Info: Normal processing times for all DIFF Eyewear orders is 24 to 48 business hours after orders have been placed; from there they ship orders with the shipping method selected at checkout. Prescription products can be returned within 14 days and non-prescription products can be returned within 30 days. There is a $10 restocking fee, which will be removed from your refund.
Why We Love It: EyeBuyDirect is one of the most popular eyewear sites for the retailer’s selection of cool, trend-forward frames and a variety of prescription and non-prescription lens options. EyeBuyDirect has an in-house line of frames to shop that start at prices as low as $6, but you can also find your perfect pair from its selection of premium designer brands, including Ray-Ban and Oakley. EyeBuyDirect also features a style and fit quiz that provides a handpicked, custom selection of frames just for you and a virtual try-on tool so you can see how each frame fits your face.