It is reasonable to think that finding a good 1800contacts promo code will save you money on your contact lenses this year, but it won’t. In this article, I will show you why, and how to actually save a ton of money on your next contact lens purchase.
Is 1800Contacts.com Overrated?
Most people falsely believe that 1800contacts is the best place to order contact lenses online. This is not the case.
For years I have been helping people find the lowest price on the internet for their contact lenses. If there’s one thing that still surprises me today, is how many people get their contact lenses from 1800contacts.
My weekly price research consistently shows that 1800contacts is actually one of the worst, if not the worst website to buy contact lenses online.
What Makes Them So Bad?
Their prices. The prices at 1800contacts can easily exceed 2x what you would pay at other sites. Does it make sense to pay more than 2x as much at 1800contacts for the exact same thing you could find at a different website?
If you’ve been buying your contact lenses at 1800contacts, you might find it absurd that they charge over 200% what other contact lens websites charge.
Heck, I don’t think I would believe it myself if I didn’t compare contact lens prices like I do. So I will prove it to you.
1800Contacts VS Other Contact Lens Sites
The following tables will show you the prices of 1800contacts.com compared to other leading contact lens sites. Take note of just how much higher the prices are at 1800contacts.com.
Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism
Look at the prices for the popular brand Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism by Johnson & Johnson across these websites:
These screenshots were all taken on July 29th, 2017. You can click the pictures to be taken to each website, but keep in mind that prices change over time and may not be the same as when you are reading this.
Website | Price | Screenshot |
1800Contacts | $49.99 | |
ACLens | $29.99 | |
$29.95 | ||
$27.99 | ||
Lens.com | $23.20 | |
$23.20 |
As you can see, the price for Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism is:
- $49.99 at 1800contacts.com
- $23.20 at PriceSmartContacts.com and lens.com
This means that the price of Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism at 1800contacts is 215% the price at Lens.com and PriceSmartContacts.com.
Pretty unbelievable, isn’t it?
And just to make sure you don’t think that Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism is just an exception, let’s look at another brand: Air Optix Aqua by Alcon (this one will blow you away!)
Air Optix Auqa
Again, these screenshots were all taken on July 29th, 2017. You can click the pictures to be taken to each website, but keep in mind that prices change over time and may not be the same as when you are reading this.
Website | Price | Screenshot |
1800Contacts | $49.99 | |
ACLens | $33.99 | |
$33.99 | ||
$31.79 | ||
$25.95 | ||
Lens.com | $14.94 |
Did you spot it? The price for Air Optix Aqua is:
- $49.99 at 1800contacts.com
- $14.94 at lens.com
This means that the price of Air Optix Aqua at 1800contacts is 335% of the price at Lens.com!
I don’t even want to image how upset I would be if I found out I paid 3.35X more for my contacts than I had to. But an untold amount of people are doing just that every day…
Ok, we’re not done yet. Let’s examine another extremely popular brand: Biofinity by CooperVision.
Biofinity
Remember, these screenshots were all taken on July 29th, 2017. You can click the pictures to be taken to each website, but keep in mind that prices change over time and may not be the same as when you are reading this.
Website | Price | Screenshot |
1800Contacts | $44.99 | |
ACLens | $34.99 | |
$32.99 | ||
$26.75 | ||
$21.50 | ||
$19.58 |
The price for Biofinity is:
- $44.99 at 1800contacts.com
- $19.58 at lens.com
This means that the price of Biofinity at 1800contacts is over 200% of the price at Lens.com!
PureVision2
For my last example, since we’ve already looked at brands from Johnson & Johnson, Alcon and CooperVision, let’s take a look at a brand from Bausch + Lomb.
Remember, these screenshots were all taken on July 29th, 2017. You can click the pictures to be taken to each website, but keep in mind that prices change over time and may not be the same as when you are reading this.
Website | Price | Screenshot |
1800Contacts | $55.99 | |
ACLens | $36.99 | |
$35.99 | ||
$25.85 | ||
$23.95 | ||
$19.75 |
By now it shouldn’t be too surprising anymore. The price of PureVision2 is:
- $55.99 at 1800contacts.com
- $19.75 at Lens.com
This means that the price of PureVision2 at 1800contacts is 283% of the price at Lens.com (that’s almost 3X the price!).
More Brands
If you want to see how the prices at 180contacts compare to all other websites for all contact lens brands, you can do so at Contacts Advice’s homepage.
I post a contact lens price comparison chart that is updated weekly that shows the price for each brand at every contact lens website.
1800contacts promo codes
By now you should be able to see that 1800contacts is not a great place to purchase contact lenses (unless you like throwing away money). But what about all the 1800contacts promo codes and floating around? Don’t they bring the prices down?
Well, let’s take a look at some typical 1800contacts coupons:
What do you notice about all of all these? What they all have in common is that they’re all for 10% off. If you’re lucky you might find a 1800contacts promo code for 15%, or 20% if you’re really lucky.
Hopefully, you’re able to see that a website that charges 200-300% of what other websites charge, and then offer you 10% off, is not actually giving you a good deal.
Not great with math? That’s OK, let’s walk through a few examples.
Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism
Price @ 1800contacts | Price @ 1800contacts with 10% off | Lowest Price |
$49.99 | $45 | $23.20
(@ Lens.com + PriceSmartContacts.com) |
Air Optix Aqua
Price @ 1800contacts | Price @ 1800contacts with 10% off | Lowest Price |
$49.99 | $45 | $14.94
(@ Lens.com) |
Biofinity
Price @ 1800contacts | Price @ 1800contacts with 10% off | Lowest Price |
$49.99 | $45 | $19.58
(@ Lens.com) |
PureVision2
Price @ 1800contacts | Price @ 1800contacts with 10% off | Lowest Price |
$55.99 | $50.40 | $19.75
(@ Lens.com) |
The above tables show that a 10% 1800contacts promo code makes almost no difference in the price, and that compared to the site with the lowest price, 1800contacts is still over-charging you bigtime!
1800contacts’s Unbeatable Price Guarantee
Now, to be fair to 1800contacts, they do have an unbeatable price guarantee which states that they will beat any price by 2%.
Taking advantage of this policy is objectively far superior to using a measly 1800contacts promo code for 10%.
Why I’m Not a Fan of this Policy
This policy rubs me the wrong way because their normal prices are the most expensive out there, which to me says that their priority is not saving their customers money.
If they are willing to sell their contacts at 2% less than the lowest price out there, yet normally charge 2-3x more than the site with the lowest price, it seems to me to be an indirect admission that they’re just ripping people off.
If their regular prices were consistently among the lowest compared to other sites, AND they offered to beat any price by 2%, then I would believe that truly concerned with saving its customer’s money.
But that’s just my opinion. If you don’t mind getting in touch with one of their customer service representatives to claim the extra 2%, go for it.
Summary
Hopefully, I’ve been able to demonstrate that 1800contacts promo codes will not save any money. In fact, using such promo codes practically guarantees that you’re wasting money by overspending on your contact lenses.
To actually save money on your next contact lens purchase, what you need to do it track down the lowest price on the internet for your specific brand.
To do that, Contacts Advice’s contact lens price comparison tools are your best resource.
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