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It can sound like a leap of faith to buy a full pair of prescription glasses online, but that feeling disappears the first time you actually try it. At Clearly you can order the whole thing from your couch, from our own-brand Clearly glasses to designer names like Ray-Ban and Oakley. We are an online optical retailer, which means the entire optical experience (frames, lenses and prescription) happens on your screen rather than at a counter.
This guide walks you through the process from start to finish, and shows you what our glasses range offers along the way. Here’s how to buy glasses online, from your prescription to checkout, in five straightforward steps.
1. Know your prescription and measurements
If you’ve never ordered glasses online, this first step feels like the intimidating one, and it is honestly the easiest to sort out. Start by making sure you have a current, valid glasses prescription from your eye care professional (an optometrist or ophthalmologist). Glasses and contact lens prescriptions are not the same, so check that yours is written for glasses. You will also need your pupillary distance, or PD (the gap between your pupils in millimetres), which sits between 54 and 74 mm for most adults. PD tells us exactly where to centre each lens, so your sharpest vision lines up with your eyes.
2. Use the sizing filter
Frame sizes are printed as three numbers in millimetres, usually a 52 mm lens, an 18 mm bridge and 140 mm temples. Enter those measurements into the size filter in the menu, and it narrows your list to the frames that sit within your ideal range. The quickest shortcut is to match the numbers to a pair you already own and wear comfortably. Get that right, and you skip most of the guesswork before a single frame ships.
3. Pick your style and find your look
Picture the two dozen frames on a shop wall, then compare that to the entire Clearly glasses range available online in one place. Browse our own-brand Clearly frames in acetate and metal, which are lightweight, hard-wearing and gentle on your budget. Or step up to designer names like Ray-Ban and Oakley when you want a particular look. Widths run from roughly 44 mm to 58 mm across, so a narrower or wider face still gets a genuine, comfortable fit. Not sure what suits you? Our virtual try-on tool uses your phone camera to show each pair on your own face, so you can see exactly how you look before you buy.
When you narrow it down, three things do most of the work:
- Your face shape: round frames soften a square jaw, while sharp, angular frames add structure to a rounder face.
- Your colouring: warm skin tones suit gold, tortoiseshell and warm brown, while cooler tones lift with black, silver or blue.
- Your everyday look: a bold acetate frame makes a statement, while a slim metal rim stays quiet and classic.
4. Clearly’s lenses
Once you’ve found the frame you love, the lenses are the last real decision, and the one that changes how the glasses feel. If you spend all day on screens, or squinting in bright light, this is where it counts. Every Clearly lens comes with a scratch-resistant coating as standard. Choose single-vision lenses (one prescription across the whole lens) for distance or reading. Or pick progressive lenses (near, middle and far in one lens, with no visible line) when you need more than one focus. For a stronger prescription, high-index lenses (thinner, lighter lenses that trim the ‘coke-bottle’ edge) keep the result flattering.
Two upgrades are worth a look. The first is BlueReflect™ lenses, which filter part of the blue-violet light (400-455nm) that screens give off. Plenty of wearers simply prefer them for long screen days. Blue-violet light is between 400 and 455nm as stated by ISO TR20772-2018.
Many lenses like these are marketed as ‘blue-light blocking’, but it’s fairer to say they filter some of it. It also helps to remember that the main source of blue light, including blue-violet, is sunlight, even indoors, not just your laptop. The second upgrade is sun cover, so you can build prescription sunglasses from the same frame.
5. Place your order
If you’ve made it this far, the hard part of buying glasses online is behind you. You’ve set your measurements, picked your frame and chosen your lenses, so all that’s left is the checkout. Enter your shipping address and pay by card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express or PayPal). It is also worth checking whether your workplace benefits include eyewear coverage, since many Canadian plans do. We build your pair, fit the prescription and ship it to your door.
What you get with Clearly glasses
We run our own lens labs, and that is what makes the maths work in your favour. Frames themselves start as low as $9, while a complete pair with prescription lenses usually runs from around $90, rising to about $250 for designer styles like Ray-Ban or Oakley. Either way the price is close to all-in: your prescription, standard lenses and a scratch-resistant coating are built in, not charged on after. That direct-from-the-lab setup is the whole Clearly optical model, and it is why the same pair often costs less here than at a high-street optician.
After buying your glasses online
Your glasses arrive at your door, so the final fitting happens at your kitchen table instead of a counter. Put them on, wear them for a day, and see how they settle. If something feels off, maybe the arms sit wide or the prescription seems slightly out, the fix is simple. Just contact us, and our customer service team will sort an adjustment, a return or an exchange.
Ready to start? Browse the full range of Clearly glasses, from budget acetate to Ray-Ban, and use the virtual try-on to find your look. Explore our glasses collection, add your prescription, and we’ll help you find your focus.
