OwnDays Glasses Review: Traveling For New Glasses

You don’t need an appointment, insurance or a prescription! No paperwork is needed with your full family medical history either! You walk in wanting glasses and in less than an hour you walk out with glasses! I was so impressed with them when buying glasses in Taiwan that I had to write this OwnDays Glasses Review!

Japanese Glasses Brand: Own Days

Own Days is a Japanese glasses brand with exceptional service, speed and quality. If you don’t want an eye exam, they can take the prescription from your existing pair of glasses. Walking in without an appointment, insurance or a prescription, you can walk out with a new pair of glasses in less than an hour. For a typical higher end pair of glasses, you can get it for $3980 NTD. Take an additional 5% off if you are not from Taiwan and have your passport.

Buying Glasses At Own Days In Taipei Main Station

I’ve been living in Taipei, Taiwan for 5 months and my glasses have hit their limit. I’ve had them for about 4 years and have been getting frequent headaches for the past month. It took some time to determine that the cause of the headaches were due to my old/scratched glasses. So after coming to this realization, I went shopping for glasses in Taipei.

I was drawn to this section of glasses that removed blue light from electronic devices. Since I use a lot of electronics such as my phone, computer and TV, the blue light can cause additional strain on the eyes. So with this new advancement in eye glass technology, I had to upgrade and this is my OwnDays glasses review.

Finding A Place To Buy Glasses In Taiwan

There were a lot of different places to get glasses in Taiwan, but I ended up at Own Days for several reasons. They had transparent pricing, good looking frames and lenses that blocked blue light from electronic devices. The total price included an examination, frames, glasses and tax for $3,980 NTD ($129.14 USD). The price could have been $2000 NTD cheaper if I didn’t get the blue light blocking lenses making that price half.

Own Days Review

I went to the Own Days branch at Taipei Main Station, walked in without an appointment, immediately was helped by the friendly staff, got an eye examination, had “test” lenses for 10 minutes, then they made the lenses and completed the glasses in 20 minutes! Super-fast and friendly service!

In less than an hour from walking in, I left with new glasses! They have a guarantee of making lenses in 20 minutes, but my experience was that they had the lenses ready in my new frames in 16 minutes!

The employee had me try on the glasses and adjusted them to a comfortable tension to fit my head. I’ve never had this level of service at an Optometrist in the United States!

The staff members spoke English and Chinese. I didn’t need any type of medical insurance or to fill out any paperwork regarding medical history. I only had to fill out some my name and phone number for the warranty!

Own Days Taiwan Pricing

Prices can range from $1990 NTD to $5490 NTD depending on the lens and frame. The official Own Days website has all the details and the price can vary depending on what country you’re buying the glasses in.

Followers Discount

April 2019 they are holding a big promotion for Instagram users. $0.50 NTD off for every Instagram follower you have as part of the Own Days #followersdiscount promotion. Max discount for the Instagram promo is $3980 NTD.

2^nd Pair 25% Off

Your second pair of purchased glasses are 25% off but you have to buy both pairs of glasses at the same time.

5% Off For Foreigners

Since I bought the glasses in Taiwan and I’m not a Taiwan National, I don’t have to pay tax. If you’re in the same situation, bring your passport to get 5% off the price. In My total price started at $3980 NTD but was brought down to $1800 NTD.

Own Days Locations

Own Days is available in Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Cambodia, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam and India.

Own Days PC Glasses Review

The OwnDays PC glasses have a slight yellow tint that you can’t really see unless you look at the glasses directly against a white sheet. This is necessary to block the blue light from computers and electronic devices. The lenses are very thin and the frame is also very light and thin. Since the employee customized the frame to fit my head, they fit great!

Using The Own Days Warranty

Buying the glasses includes a 1-year warranty. Pretty awesome! I used it the warranty on the 2^nd day of owning the glasses.

After using the glasses for a few hours, I started getting headaches. The right eye lens was a little blurry so I didn’t get the exact prescription I needed. Fully prepared to pay an additional fee to fix this lens, I showed up at Own Days Taipei Main Station and explained the situation.

The staff were very understanding and immediately took me for another eye examination. We carefully tested my vision and came up with a new prescription. I tested the glasses for 10 minutes and confirmed that I could see everything very clearly. 20 minutes later, I had new glasses!

Upon check out I asked how much the corrected lens would cost and the employee said it was covered in my warranty! I didn’t have to pay anything! On my way out, employees said to come back any time if I had any issues and they would quickly resolve it.

I’ve never experience this level of service, speed, quality and price at an optometrist and I highly recommend going.

Own Days Glasses Review Score

• Value 10/10
• Quality 10/10
• Service 11/10

Buying Prescription Glasses In The United States

For reference, I just want to explain my experience of buying prescription glasses in the United States. You can expect to pay over $200 USD for a pair of glasses.

1. You have to make an appointment. Typically, that appointment is never the same day and rarely the same week.
2. Show up for your appointment and still have to wait for the optometrist. This wait can be anywhere from 20-60 minutes.
3. While you wait for the appointment, you have to fill out paperwork for your full medical history.
4. You take the exam. It’s one shot. There is no “trial prescription”. They provide you your prescription and you can either buy glasses with them (if you have insurance) or with another retailer.
5. Pay for the optometrist exam with insurance or cash. I used to go to Costco and the exam was $75 USD without insurance. Other higher end optometry facilities can cost over $150 for the exam. A lot of people get “Vision Insurance” but you have to jump through a lot of hoops to make a claim. I personally hate it.
6. Depending on the frame and the upsells. At the base level (coke bottle style) you can get glasses with a crappy frame for $200. Then they try to upsell you on anti-glare, high-index (thin lens) and scratch resistant features.

A pair of glasses in the U.S. can cost between $200 to $400+ and take 2-3 weeks to get. The service is overall lackluster and your treated like cattle. That’s why I was shocked at how great my experience was and had to make this OwnDays Glasses Review.

Have you found things like medical tourism and other types of travel shopping significantly cheaper outside the United States?