Sometimes, I “find” things in the strangest places. The first one today comes from a job interview that I went on this week. One interviewer said, “don’t forget to ask [Interviewer #2] about his glasses. Thinking that this may be some collegial ribbing, I weighed whether I should ask or not. I had spoken to “Interviewer #2” before and we had once worked at the same company, so I decided to go for it. Not only did he tell me about his glasses, he went back to his desk and brought a case with SIX MORE pairs in it and then modeled them for me. It was, in a word, awesome!
Why does “I2” have so many pairs of glasses? Well, he was sick of paying a premium for frames only to find that he didn’t like the glasses because they were not comfortable or he didn’t like how they looked. He got a tip about very inexpensive online glasses and tried his luck with Zenni Optical. He got one pair of prescription glasses for ~$30! And he liked them. He then went on to order SEVEN more pairs including sunglasses and ones with gradient lenses.
I asked the obvious question, “um, you got glasses without trying them on?” He said he watched a bunch of You Tube videos to see what people thought about the quality, accuracy and fit of the glasses. There are ALOT of these videos (and several companies that do this.) All in all, I watched about 10 videos, and all of the reviewers seemed delighted.
“I2” explained that you measure your “pupillary distance” (distance from the center of your pupils) or have it measured for you by an optometrist (you need the prescription, too!) and you can upload a photo of yourself to “try on” frames. So of course I did this! The base price for one pair was $27.95 and for the second was $12.95! Special coatings, etc. are marginal costs. I think all in, for me, these glasses would be between $25 and $50/pair. I won’t tell you what I paid for my awesome red, titanium glasses (that I almost never wear) because the husband might see. Let’s just says, I could be like “I2” and order 8 pairs and still come out ahead.
What do you think? Would you try this? I am intrigued but am not in the market for glasses at the moment. I am tempted to get some prescription sunglasses after my next eye exam, though.
Since we are talking about finding things on the cheap, have you heard about the website Biggest Price Drop? This site lets you check out deals at 56 stores (you can pick your favorites) and see which prices have dropped the most. You can also sort by “newest first” or “price” or do a keyword search through all the products that are being tracked. As of Apr 3, 2014, they are tracking 5,195,661 products from 56 stores.
The site checks the prices of every item from all of the tracked stores more than ten times a day! It calculates the price changes across three date ranges: in the last 2 days, in the last 7 days, in the last 30 days. You can choose the categories and stores you’re interested in and the site displays the results sorted by “Biggest Price Drop ™.” They say (and I agree) that “The best deals will automatically bubble to the top!”
The site tracks actual price changes not percentage off of MSRP. It is current and you will not see items if they are no longer available or if the sale is over. They have created logical categories across all of the stores. I have seen a lot of sale aggregators and this one is the easiest to use and shows some smoking deals. Warning: this is a bit addictive for us online shoppers.
The Biggest Price Drop™ was created by a team of 2.1 (programmer husband, fashionista wife and newborn baby). This was started by the blogger behind Deals for the Rich. She was constantly looking for deals online.
Awesome stuff – check it out to see what you find! And let me know if you score anything awesome!
It’s Friday so you know the drill…here are some deals I found:
- Save $10 on the Soldier Field 10 in Chicago on May 24th with code 2014SF10Active through 4/7.
- Instacart is now available in Los Angeles (in addition to San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia!) Get groceries delivered in one hour and $10 off first order + free delivery.
- Start spring healthy with a Vegan Starter Kit from Vegan Cuts. They are offering $50 worth of vegan staples for $27.95 + free shipping to the US. The products included in the box are a surprise. Each one includes a Vegucated DVD, snacks, meal guides and coupons! Check it out here.
- Get 64% off on Photobin’s Mix Pics 350 package to scan and store photos, negatives, etc. or 50% off on a membership to Fillaseat Chicago (only $49.95) from Amazon Local.
- Check out great deals for women, kids and home in curated sales at Zulily. New today: LEGO Collection and Børn – up to 50% off.
- Check out great products in Bestowed’s new online store – buy your faves (including many Finds’ Faves) from the curated boxes!
- If you use online tax tools like Turbo Tax, start with ebates to get up to 10% cash back on your costs!
- Check out awesome deals on athletic gear and trips from The Clymb. Act fast deals are up for a limited time.
- Gilt City has an extra 25% off at J Crew Outlet – in stores and online – FREE or 50% off at French Connection (online)! Also great local deals like 50% off Power Sculpt Fitness in Chicago, up to 46% off at Red Door Spa in NYC and many more. Start with ebates for additional cash back.
- Buy any full size poduct at L’Occitane and get 50% off Refills for Earth Day with code EARTH. Offer ends 4.30.14.
- Get cash back from awesome outdoors/activewear vendors from Active Junky.
Get 50% off your first outfit at Fabletics.
- Save 40% on awesome portable coconut water products from Cocogo with code ERICAFINDS.
- Want a piece of the country even though you live in the ‘burbs? Be entertained and get everything you need to know about keeping backyard chickens and green living. Signup for JenBTV for free!
- Are you on Facebook? Enter to win $500 Whole Foods gift card or 1 year of jelly beans from Gimbal’s Candy from Whole Mom.
- Hello Spring! Get $2 off on Bausch and Lomb Alaway Antihistamine Drops.
That’s all I have for now! I am enjoying my #100 Happy Days Challenge and am going to amp it up by heading to Miami this weekend to Finds’ Fave Canyon Ranch. Sun and warmth make me happy!! Have a great weekend, friends!
PS. Don’t forget to enter my 13.1 Chicago Half Marathon giveaway and my Chia Chargers/Chia Moxie giveaway, too!