If you wear glasses and are wanting to try contact lenses, you probably have lots of questions, including where to buy contact lenses, how to get the best price and if buying online or buying a private label lens is a good idea. Maybe you should just stick with you local eye doctor for your lenses?

1- Did you know that you have the right to have your contact (and glasses) prescription copied so that you can shop around for eyewear? The legislation, in Feb. 2004 gave that right to consumers in all 50 states. This means that you do not have to buy contact lenses only from your eye care practitioner. You can shop around anywhere that contacts are sold. Doing this gives you a better selection at a better price.

2- You may be starting your search for contacts with preconceived notions as to which are the best source to buy contact lenses, throw those out! Do not discount any place that sells contacts, look into what they have to offer and what their prices are; you might be surprised at where you will find the best quality and price.

3- When you buy contact lenses, you need to focus on value and not on price alone. The overall value includes the availability of the contacts that you use, if they accept your insurance (and if you need to do paperwork or if they do it for you), ease of getting the contacts (do they deliver), their customer service department and price. Taking all of these points into consideration will help you to find the absolute best value for you.

4- You may be tempted to buy another brand of contact lens to save money. If you are thinking of doing this, you must be aware that by law, retailers must sell the exact same lens as prescribed. However, there is a loophole to the law that could allow you to buy contact lenses that are the same quality, but at a much better price. The loophole is that some manufacturers sell one type of contact lens under more than one brand name. For example, the same contact lens sold under a brand name and under a private label.

5- The best places to start your search are, of course, your eye doctor, the internet and wholesale retailers as well as mail order houses. Be sure that you know exactly what type of contact lens you need to purchase before you agree to anything. Ask about their return policy if you receive a contact lens other than what you ordered.