About 38DollarGlasses.com

We are Canada’s most trusted and best online optical store, as ranked by Profit magazine.

We have a huge in-stock selection of eyeglasses from all the top designers.

How to order eyeglasses online?

3 easy steps to buying your eyeglasses online!

1. Choose your frame

2. Input your prescription

3. Receive your new personalized eyeglass directly to your home.

Ordering eyeglasses online is much easier than you may think. Knowing some basic information will make ordering your eyewear online easy, affordable, fast and convenient. Our goal is to help you make this process as easy and enjoyable as possible. Once you have your required information, our user-friendly shopping cart will take you step by step through the four-step process, making it very easy to order your eyewear online.

  • Step one: Obtain your prescription from your local optometrist / optical shop. Check out the “How do I obtain my prescription” FAQ section.
  • Step Two: Choose your frame from our extensive line of optical frames. We carry a wide variety of eyeglass frames in many price ranges, styles and colours. To order a frame only, simply choose frames only in the Lens drop-down menu.
  • Step three: Choose your lenses from our wide range of single-vision, bifocal, and progressive lenses. You also have the option of scratch-resistant and ultraviolet (UV) coatings. We carry every lens to suit your particular needs.
  • Step four: Checkout is easy. You can pay for your eyewear using our secure, easy-to-use shopping cart system. We accept most major credit cards and also utilize Pay Pal.

We ship your new eyewear in its own protective case along with a cleaning cloth, guaranteed right to your door within 7-10 business days.

How do I read my prescription?

Prescription Sample

The information contained in your prescription is the lens power required to correct your vision problems. It consists of sphere power, cylinder power, cylinder axis, bifocal addition, and prism power. Your prescription may or may not contain all of these numbers. However, your pupillary distance (PD) measurement is needed to complete your order.

Note: If your prescription is more than one year old, we at 38DollarGlasses recommend that you update your prescription by visiting your local optometrist.

  • Sphere: Correction for long or short sight. This can be a plus ‘+’ or minus ‘-‘ value.
  • Cylinder: This is a correction for astigmatism if you have one. This can be a plus ‘+’ or minus ‘-‘ value. You may or may not have a value of cylinder in your prescription.
  • Axis: The axis for which the correction for astigmatism needs to be set. This will be present only if you have a value in the cylinder. It can be a number between 1 and 180.
  • Addition: (“Add”) Additional plus power in the lower portion of a multifocal lens, required for near vision in progressive, bifocal, or trifocal lenses.
  • Prism: This is not normally filled in on your prescription. Occasionally, when the two eyes are not properly aligned and looking at the same thing, prism can be ground into the lenses to realign them.
  • Base: “Base In,” “Base Out,” “Base Up,” and “Base Down” are the four positions for prism in eyeglasses. Orientations between the four positions can be specified by using combinations of horizontal and vertical prisms in the same lens.
  • Pupillary distance (PD): Your PD is the distance from the center of the pupil (black spot) in one eye to the center of the pupil in the other eye. Your PD measurement improves the positioning of your lenses within the eyeglass frame. Be sure to ask for your PD measurement when you have your eyes examined and have it added to your prescription.
  • OD:  right eye
  • OS:  left eye

What is my pupillary distance (PD)?

Your PD is the distance from the center of the pupil (black spot) in one eye to the center of the pupil in your other eye. Your PD measurement improves the positioning of your lenses within the eyeglass frame. Be sure to ask for your PD measurement when you have your eyes examined and have it added to your prescription.

Measure Your Own P.D. (Pupil Distance)

To measure your own PD, simply put on a pair of eyeglasses and have a helper use a NON-PERMANENT marker to mark a dot in the center of each pupil on your eyeglasses. Measure the distance between the dots in millimeters. That’s all there is to it. A helper can also measure your PD by standing an arm’s length away and holding the millimeter ruler’s ‘0’ value to the left pupil (center) and measuring straight across to the right pupil (center). Be sure to keep the ruler straight and measure in millimeters.

How to buy Designer label eyeglasses for CHEAP!

If you have tried to shop for eyeglasses at your local optical store, you may have noticed that the prices tend to be rather high, especially if you’re looking for brand name designer labels.

Why does this happen?

The answer is simple: eyeglass designers are no different from clothing designers (in fact, they tend to be the same ones, such as Armani, D&G, Guess, DKNY, Ray-Ban, Coach, etc.), and these designers charge many millions of dollars to ‘license’ their name to the manufacturer. As a result, the cost is passed on to the consumer.

How do we get around it?

We comparison price shop at your doctor’s and optician’s office, as well as all the major online retailers. We offer the best prices. *Condition applies.

We bulk buy designer labels from all over the world, and since we are licensed vendors for all of the brands we carry, we have access to previous catalogs’ ‘overstock’ and discontinued items that can be found nowhere else but with us.

We own a large bricks-and-mortar chain that has been providing products for over 50 years, so our buying power is huge.

All orders are shipped from our location in Vancouver, BC, so there will not be any duty or customs charges like most other online retailers in the USA.

Best Prices

We will match the current regular advertised-in-print price of any bricks-and-mortar retailer for an exact product match (i.e., identical brand, model, and physical characteristics) at the time of purchase. The product must be sold by a properly licensed eye care professional located in British Columbia, Canada.

We will match the current regular advertised-in-print price of all the major online retailers for an exact product match (i.e., identical brand, model, and physical characteristics) at the time of purchase. The product must be available for delivery within British Columbia, Canada.

Our staff must be able to verify the competitor’s price in Canadian dollars and the immediate availability of the product. We will not match prices for advertising errors, restricted offers, free offers, bonus offers, clearance sales, liquidation sales, bankruptcy sales, going-out-of-business sales, or used products. We will not match prices on shipping charges.

No refunds or exchanges on lenses. Frame returns are subject to a 20% restocking fee, and postage is paid for by the purchaser.