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The Lifetime Cost of Wearing Glasses

Eyeglasses shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. However, if you wear glasses, it's generally accepted that you'll spend a lot of money over your lifetime on prescription eyewear. There’s an alternative to spending all that cash!

Lifetime Cost of Wearing Glasses

The Facts

In 2019, consumers spent over 29.4 billion dollars on eyewear in the United States alone. Image of the United States map including Alaska.

In 2019, consumers spent over

29.4 Billion Dollars

on eyewear in the U.S. alone.

Source: The Vision Council

Average retail cost of a pair of eyeglasses from brick and mortar retailers: $343.00. Image of a pair of square-shaped glasses.

Average retail cost of a pair of eyeglasses from brick & mortar retailers:

$343

Twenty-five percent of children will need eyeglasses by the age of five. Image of a cake with 5 candles, with one piece of it cut out, next to the cake.
Image of a pair of square-shaped glasses.

Average adults will go through

1 Pair of Glasses

per year.

Image of a pair of cat-eye glasses. Image of a pair of oval-shaped glasses.

Children will outgrow (or destroy) about

2 Pairs of Glasses

per year.

 
Zenni

With the average cost of a pair of Zenni eyeglasses at $44, the average family will spend the following over a 15-year period:

Brick & Mortar

At $343 per pair, the average family will spend the following on eyeglasses over a 15-year period:

Family of 3 spends
$2,640
Image of two parallel lines moving in opposite directions away from each other, the blue line going to the left and the red line going to the right. The blue “Zenni” line points to two thousand six hundred and forty dollars. The red “brick and mortar” line points to twenty thousand five hundred eighty dollars.
$20,580
Image of four pairs of glasses.
Family of 4 spends
$3,960
Image of two parallel lines moving in opposite directions away from each other, the blue line going to the left and the red line going to the right. The blue “Zenni” line points to three thousand nine hundred sixty dollars. The red “brick and mortar” line points to thirty thousand eight hundred seventy dollars.
$30,870
Image of six pairs of glasses.
Family of 5 spends
$5,280
Image of two parallel lines moving in opposite directions away from each other, the blue line going to the left and the red line going to the right. The blue “Zenni” line points to five thousand two hundred eighty dollars. The red “brick and mortar” line points to forty-one thousand one hundred sixty dollars.
$41,160
Image of eight pairs of glasses.

*Numbers based on typical purchase behavior of one pair of glasses per adult and two pairs of glasses per child per year.

Here's What This Means for You

Image of a man wearing green glasses in front of a green background. Image of a woman wearing green glasses in front of a green background. Image of a teenage girl wearing green glasses in front of a green background. Image of a boy wearing green glasses in front of a green background. Image of a girl wearing green glasses in front of a green background.

That's Enough Money to Buy

Twenty-two surf lessons for the whole family. Image of an island with a palm tree and sand, with a surfboard sticking out of the sand.

62

Surf lessons for the whole family

Two hundred ninety-nine one-day passes to an Orlando theme park. Image of a roller coaster.

299

One-day passes to an Orlando theme park

One brand new fully loaded minivan. Image of a steering wheel.

1

Brand new fully-loaded minivan

So when you look at the numbers, it makes all the sense in the world to shop at Zenni versus buying expensive eyeglasses from the other guys.

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