Zenni Optical vs. Coastal Glasses
Benefits
Zenni offer stylish eyeglasses and sunglasses for men, women and kids. As well as providing a wide range of frames to suit every budget and style, they even have an innovative personalisation service. Shopping with the company online is extremely straightforward thanks to their numerous helpful guides and resources. Furthermore, international shipping only costs $9.95, no matter where you’re located in the world.
Coastal.com produce an extensive range of own-label and designer eyeglasses with a virtual try-on feature. Their base contact lenses are impact-resistant and have a number of different coating options.
Drawbacks
Most online eyewear retailers provide free domestic shipping, but it will cost you $4.95 with Zenni and your order might take a rather long time to get to you! Plus, customers are expected to pay the shipping costs if they wish to return an item for any reason. Even though there are a variety of glasses to choose from, none of the styles are named and just given a general description, like “aviator eyeglasses.” This can make them difficult to refer to.
It can take up to 16 days for your new frames to be delivered to you according to Coastal’s shipping policy. It can take even longer for your new contact lenses to arrive as they also have to go through an initial verification process.
Our Verdict
Zenni deliver a simplistic online shopping experience due to their array of informative resources. As well as providing a virtual try-on service, you can easily browse their vast collection of glasses using different filter and sorting options. With frames starting at $6.95, the company is currently one of the most affordable eyewear retailers on the market and offer plenty of choice to suit every budget. Their customisation service is also rather unique. It’s a shame that Zenni charges for domestic shipping, unlike their competitors, but international shipping costs are kept nice and low to compensate. However, the fact that customers have to pay for shipping to return an item seems a little unfair.
Coastal offer a variety of options for your next pair of eyeglasses or lenses. Each pair of frames is available in different colours and sizes, which creates an abundance of choice, and the virtual try-on feature is super handy. Stylish and affordable, you can’t go wrong with Coastal eyewear - you just have to be prepared to endure their long processing and shipping times.