I must say I am AMAZED at the prices folks here are paying for eyeglasses. I've never paid more than $100 for a pair in my life.
I get my eyes checked at the VA (free!), and there I can also get a pair of seamless bifocals in really good frames for about $89.
With coupons sent to me quarterly by commercial optometrist shops in the Bay Area, I can get up to $100 off frames and still pay about $100 for the lenses and frames. The prescription, of course, isn't chargeable as long as it's current.
I went through quite the sticker shock when I got my new eyeglasses last summer. I knew that frames could run anywhere from $29 on up ($1000+), but I had no idea that lenses could cost so much. When I lived in NoVA and Richmond, the Four Eyes chain was my Go-To place for glasses. They always ran specials, and the price you saw on the frames was the price of the glasses (with plastic lenses). I could always get a set for anywhere from $150-200. Well...
After spending a good week looking for frames, I finally settled on two styles that I liked. There were not cheap, but they weren't exorbitantly priced either - a "minor" splurge (titanium/gun metal). However, due to my prescription - which is always worse than I think it is - and since I did not want to deal with really heavy, thick, non-indexed plastic lenses, I went for the high-indexed thinner lenses. When the clerk started writing down the numbers, I think I started to feel a little queasy. Thankfully, I had printed off various coupons: free eye exam, $100 of the complete frames/lens, and a free pair of "basic frames". I did spend more than I had originally thought I would have to spend, but I also managed to save about $400 in the end - for two sets of glasses.
I did price the same frames and lenses on some "discount" online sites after I bought them, and I would have spent more if I had gone that route.
*And, I really do LOVE my new frames. Truly the first pair that I really like wearing.