Where to get sunglasses?
 

My 8-year old pair of Daggers are scratched to hell. I need a new pair of sunglasses. I paid $80 for these.

In Bloomington, I only seem to be able to find sunglasses for under $20 (cheap crap) or over $150 (Sunglass Hut).

I just want a nice pair of polarized, plastic lens, metal-frame sunglasses for $50-$100.

Considering there is no local source in that price range, is there a reputable online retailer? Sunglasses seem like something that are likely to be counterfeit, stolen, damaged, or just plain misrepresented.

Fleabay. Stolen goods are cheap.

Yeah, and I'm just as likely to get a scratched-up pair of Blue Blockers.

I'd rather pay a "reasonable" price for legitimately-acquired goods than feed the global fencing operation that is eBay.

Get some Novus medium or fine scratch remover, it works great, cleans up cd and dvd's too..

I have gotten some good deals from eyeglasses123.com

Problem being I can no longer get their website to work... the main page loads but as soon as I click on something it hangs... might be a problem on my end so I suggest you give it a try.

They have (almost) all the major brands and are based in the USA.

There was a huge sunglasses thread here before. There were several plugs for campmor.com. I bought some from there after I saw the thread. Good prices and lots of selection and I think you can search by feature.

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Category___246__

here's the other thread.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=280759&highlight=polarized+sun+gl asses

Look up Oakley, they make some pretty good ones.

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Home_ I get all mine from here- CampMor. I like Julbo mountaineering glasses since I am out in the sun and wind for days on end.:)http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Category___246__

I shopped for my last pair of Persols in a chi-chi retail shop, noted the model # and than bought them for $60 on eBay instead of $235 retail. They are not fakes and the seller on eBay had several thousand transactions, so I highly doubt that they were stolen.

As on any eBay purchase, you need to get in writing that they are authentic/not fake, either written in the listing or in an answer to question thru email and pay w/ Paypal. If they show up and they are fake or used when supposed to be new, etc., it's charge-back time. :)

I bought a paif of Costa del Mars in a Sunglasses Hut in Annapolis about 8 yrs. ago. A year or so later I was on my way to FL and in the Charlotte airport when I realized I had left my shades at home. I found the same pair of Costa del Mars for about $6 more in the airport! I couldn't believe it. And about 6 yrs. later I was in the same airport and bought another pair for about $4 more than the previous pair. I couldn't believe the prices were that reasonable at the airport.

Sunglasses have one of the highest retail markups in the industry. Shop wisely.

I recommend just going to one of those mall booth's and find the pair you like and go home and buy them on eBay for about 1/4 of the price!

No doubt. I very much got the impression while standing around the mall booth that sunglasses are a "pay-for-image" product. Some college kid was bragging (loudly) to his girlfriend that he has "every model Oakley makes". Some other guy was making a fuss about them not having some specific model in yet. All of these guys were 5-10 years younger than me. I felt like they were just barely scraping the money together (or taking on debt) to get this image product, while this is something that I can easily afford and I just can't justify the excessive expense to myself.

Chris, if you don't get every Oakley there is, your peepee will be smaller.

And stop selling my car :(

Hey, I gave you first crack at it!

Besides...all I'm looking for is to get the same out of it that I paid for it...;)

Will that finally put me into electron-microscope territory? SmileWavy

I'd start by finding out what marine and aircraft vendors sell.


West Marine and Aircraft Spruce

I stopped buying expensive glasses. Due to the fact I'm always breaking or losing them.
The last few pairs I bought where knock-offs I found at one of those highway service plazas. Brand is UV3. Prices where about $20-40. Just as good and stronger than any designer brand. Crystal clear lenses, no distortion.

Out of all the ones Ive ever owned, my faves where a pair of Corning Serengetis(which I sat on) second was Costa Del Mars(that I dropped overboard on my boat)

2 suggestion on sunglasses:

Costco is now selling Maui Jim's. Fantastic glasses and the price is right.

If you want really realy good mirror plastic frame polarized sunglasses, head to a high end tool store and pickup polarized safety glasses. I use these for bike riding and of course in and around the shop. Usually under $29 for a pair, or at least that cheap here in Houston. Northern Tool carries them and you can access them on-line.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatDsp?storeId=6970&N=95+1458&icnt=63

I guess no polarized, but remember, these are all ANSI rated!

I lose/destroy sunglasses at a disheartening pace but sprung for my first pair of "expensive" ones a year ago. My tastes are simple - aviator style, glass lenses. A local hole-in-the-wall eyeglass repair shop sold me Ray-Bans for $70, tax included. Says they sell for $100-200 in dept. stores. Not polarized, but good quality and comfortable.

There are lots of good brands out there. I like Serengeti Drivers for flying/driving. They cut a lot of the glare and haze out. In fact I find myself putting them back on when it's hazy or cloudy just because they make my eyes feel less strain. Kind of spendy though.

Jeez, fakes are so good these days, how would you know? I'm pretty sure many "fakes" are made on the same line and just go into different boxes. It's that way in tools, for sure.