Buying contact lenses from the USA/Europe

The main contact lenses article only includes UK comparisons, yet it only takes a two-second search on Google to discover many USA and European companies advertise the same lenses for another 30% less, and they're willing to deliver to the UK . But is it worth using them?

• The Problems
• Some Problems Solved
• The Main Providers

You can use overseas contacts too!

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The Problems

• Import Duty. You may need to pay import duty on top of postage and packing costs; delivery can take time and add to your costs.

• Different regulation. They're outside the UK 's regulatory framework, and you've less comeback if things go wrong.

• Reliability and consumer rights. While there's nothing innately less reliable about companies based in other countries, you have less consumer rights and a more distant relationship with them and if things go wrong it's much more difficult to enforce your rights.

• Exchange rates. The price of the lenses will be in Dollars or Euros, and therefore the amount you pay depends on the exchange rate. This can have a massive impact on whether it's competitive to buy from overseas or not. So it's simply a question of suck it and see. If you've any worries about this, you're still getting a great price from going to the discounters, so stick with those. If not, treble check you get the right prescription and aftercare.

Be careful, because of the risks, this is only for people who know what they're doing. The following steps will help minimise the potential dangers:

Some Problems Solved

• Pay on the right credit card. If you're going to spend more than £100 on the lenses you get a big extra protection by paying for them on your credit card. Of course make sure you pay the card off in full so you're not charged interest.

  This is because a court ruling in 2007 said that Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act does apply to things bought outside the UK too. Don't worry about the gobbledygook, in summary it means the credit card company is equally liable with the retailer for things bought on it (see the Section 75 article for more details).

  Therefore if the goods aren't delivered you have the option of complaining to the credit card company as well (this is only credit not debit cards). As it's much easier to chase your UK credit card company than an overseas retailer, if the goods don't appear, you have a much better chance of getting your money back.

  Also while we're on credit cards, by using the correct credit card you can also cut the price as it'll give you a better exchange rate (see Cheapest Card For Using Overseas article).

• Get feedback. While by no means foolproof, others' feedback substantially helps inform the situation. As such I'm starting a special feedback area in the Chat Forum to discuss reliable overseas suppliers.

The Main Providers

The main companies for which there's been consistent feedback in the Chat Forum are CoastalContacts, and the comparison services Lensprice and Healthpricer. Obviously as we're now looking at a worldwide market there are hundreds of companies out there, again, check the Chat Forum feedback area for others' experiences.

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