Costco Optical vs Walmart Vision Center
61% of Americans have corrective lenses. Many find a change in prescription requires new glasses yearly. This can be a significant cost on a family’s budget each year, especially if multiple family members require corrective lenses. Walmart and Costco are two places generally associated with low prices. Following is a Costco Optical vs Walmart Vision Center comparison of some of the most common prescription lens options to help determine the best place to buy glasses.
Walmart
A standard eye exam at Walmart for eyeglasses costs $69. However if you want contact lenses, the price of an exam will run $99.
You can find extremely inexpensive frame and lens combinations at Walmart by looking at their website. In some cases a basic set of glasses can cost less than $100. However, many people want additions to their product, which makes the price go up.
Lens Type Options:
- Polarized: $50
- No Glare: $50
Packages:
Basic
- High Quality Plastic Lenses
- Anti Scratch
- Cost: Free
Most Popular:
- Impact Resistant
- Anti Scratch
- Cost: $31
Nikon Eyes Advanced
- Impact Resistant
- Anti Scratch
- No Glare
- Anti Smudge
- Water Repellent
- High Definition Digital Lenses
- 2 year limited coating warranty
- Cost: $121
Nikon Eye Custom
- Thin and Light Lenses
- Impact Resistant
- Anti Scratch
- No Glare
- Anti Smudge
- Water Repellent
- High Definition Digital Lenses
- 2 year limited coating warranty
- Cost: $151
Costco:
Independent eye doctors operating within Costco will do a basic eye exam and health check for $74 for eyeglasses. If you want contact lenses, add $40 for a total of $114.
Lens Type Options:
- Anti Scratch: Included
- Anti Glare: Included
- Polarized: $69.99
- High Quality Polarized (thinner lenses): $94.99
Comparison:
Walmart has a slightly lower price ($69 vs $74) for the basic eye exam. And while Walmart seemingly has more options for their lenses, let’s compare the cost of what could be popular options:
Option 1: Polarized lenses with anti-scratch and anti-glare protection:
- Walmart : anti-scratch ($0) + polarized ($50) + anti-glare ($50) = $100 on top of the base price
- Costco: Both are included, so no additional cost on top of the base price.
Option 2: thinner polarized lenses with anti-scratch and anti-glare
- Walmart: This would be the Nikon custom package for $151 on top of the base price
- Costco: The high quality polarized option would be selected for $94.99 on top of the base price
In both cases, Costco comes out cheaper. In fact, according to Consumer Reports, the median cost of frames and lenses at Costco is $184. By comparison, the median price of frames and lenses at LensCrafters is $369.
It should be noted you do not have to be a member at Costco to get an eye exam, but you do need a membership to buy frames and lenses.
Walmart Vision Center does appear to have a few more options. While you should always comparison shop for your unique situation, it appears if they have the options you want, Costco has the upper hand in Costco Optical vs Walmart Vision Center.
How about you, Clever Friends, where do you get your glasses and where do you buy them?
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