X
    Categories: Services

Where to get a cheap eye exam

Free eye exam

You know that dreadful time: Your prescription is expired, your contacts are way past their three-month life-span and that inevitable eye exam… is just one big, foreboding dollar sign looming on the fuzzy horizon. So, as with any routine doctor’s visit for the insurance-less, it’s time to price-check. What we’re looking for: an eye exam, for contacts, for less than $100. Here’s what we found so far:

Each price listed is for the basic eye exam for contacts; If you have Astigmatism, it’s more; for glasses, less. Also, none of these prices has a “fitting fee” tacked on to it. Likely, you’ve been wearing contacts since the seventh grade, and you could put them in doing one-handed push-ups in the bed of a truck going 60 down a bumpy road. Okay, maybe not 60. But we’re not about to pay $30-$50 on top of the exam to be “fitted.” We cross-referenced with Yelp, and everything here received decent to great reviews.

Insight Optical, 306 Court Street, Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens, 718-596-3740
Basic eye exam for glasses or contacts: $50

Victory Vision, 30 Fifth Ave., Park Slope, 718-622-2020
Contacts eye exam: $75
Glasses eye exam: $50

Cohen’s Fashion Optical, 189 Montague St., Brooklyn Heights, 718-855-2333
Contacts eye exam: $80 with coupon from website (regularly $100)
Glasses eye exam: $20 (that’s right, $20 with a coupon from the website, but ONLY for a glasses eye exam, not contacts)
(This place got the worst reviews out of everyone on this list, but at $20 for glasses, it’s worth a mention).

My Optician NY, 2849 W. 8th St., Coney Island, 718-265-1100
Contacts eye exam: $85
Glasses eye exam: $45

Urban Optical, 326 Seventh Ave., Park Slope, 718-832-3513
Contacts eye exam: $95
Glasses eye exam: $65

Grand Opticians, 151 Montague St., Brooklyn Heights, 718-625-6545
Contacts eye exam: $95
Glasses eye exam: $65

Luxeye, 171 Bedford Ave., Williamsburg, 718-599-7799
Contacts eye exam: $100
Glasses eye exam: $60 or $30 if you buy your frames there

Are these the best deals out there? Where do you get your cheap-o eye exam?

Nina Koske :

View Comments (22)

  • Thank you for posting this! I went to Victory Vision because they accept Care Credit. And with my Met Life discount plan, the exam was $40 plus 20% of contacts. The exam doesn't cost any more if you have an astigmatism - with or without insurance.

  • I just went to Fulton Eyes in Fulton Mall. The staff is great and you get an eye exam for glasses and contacts for $60. I had an astigmatism, but it didn't cost extra. I also had to keep going back because my contacts were bothering my eyes and I had an open ulcer, but she did not charge me extra for the 3 additional visits to check how my eye was doing. The office is truly amazing and reminds me of how awesome small local businesses can be.

  • What about regular eye exams for people without glasses? Can we still go to these places, or would we have to see a regular optometrist?

  • Cohans is the absolute worst place to go! Costco price is $60 and NY Optical College is a whopping $140 bucks.

  • worth noting that even though cohen's offers a $20 eye exam coupon, it's only $20 if you buy a pair of glasses from them; otherwise, it is $45

  • Don't sleep on Optical Solutions on at Fulton and Fort Greene Place in Fort Greene (right near BAM). $40 exam for glasses, $75 exam for glasses + contacts, and a lot of inexpensive, very cute frames!

  • I didn't realize alot of these places were so affordable for someone who has no insurance. I have been just using my old prescription, so this will help alot.

    I found a pretty cheap deal on contacts at enhancemyvision.net. I don't think I would have found it, if someone else hadn't posted, so I am just trying to return the favor.

    thx!

  • Concurring about 88 Optical in Chinatown, I think I paid $20! I think once they even included it when I ordered contacts. Fannys+88 Optical FTW