You will need a valid eyeglasses prescription and your pupillary distance (PD). PD is the distance measured between your pupils in millimeters. Your PD isn’t usually included with your eyeglass prescription, so be sure to ask for it. Don’t have it? Measure it in about a minute with our free PD tool.
Your order may be canceled and refunded if you have not tried on one of our frames. We encourage you to order a try-on box to see what works for you before placing a prescription order.
Use Find Your Frames. Your camera measures your face in the browser, face width, jaw, forehead, and face length, and we pick three to five frames that fit those numbers. It’s your measurements, not a quiz, and the photo never leaves your phone. The picks go straight into a home try-on box, or you can see any of them on your face first with the virtual try-on.
Visit our Try-On at Home section, select 3–5 frames, and complete checkout. Once delivered, you’ll have 7 days to try the frames at home. When finished, attach the return label and mail the box back.
If you decide to purchase a frame, return all Try-On frames and place a new online order for a brand-new pair, with or without prescription. If you love a frame in the box and want to keep that exact pair, email [email protected] before the box goes back and we charge it to your card.
If we do not receive your Try-On box, you will be charged between $99 and $205 per frame depending on the frame material. You have 7 days for the trial period plus an additional 7 days for shipping (14 days total) to return the box.
We place a $20 reservation to hold your home try-on, and the full $20 comes back to you as store credit toward your order. The reservation helps us reduce abuse and keep home try-on available for everyone. A valid debit or credit card is required. The $20 store credit is limited to two every 30 days, so a third try-on within that window still ships but does not earn another credit until 30 days have passed since the first of those two.
Prepaid cards and FinTech payment methods are not accepted for Try-On orders. Orders may be canceled if we’re unable to verify that the card is active, valid, and non-prepaid.
We do not accept prepaid credit cards, prepaid debit cards, or FinTech payment methods for Home Try-Ons. Prepaid cards may only be used for purchases.
Try-On boxes ship to home addresses only. We are lending you the frames, so for security the shipping address must be a residential address that matches the billing address on your card, with the name of a verifiable individual. We do not ship Try-On boxes to business addresses, forwarding services, or warehouses.
If try-on frames are not returned within the designated return period, we reserve the right to charge the full retail value of the frames to the payment method on file. If we are unable to process this charge, the outstanding balance will be sent to a collections agency. Additional fees may apply as permitted by law.
If you are charged per frame, a refund will be automatically issued once the box is returned within 14 days of the charge date.
Some frames in our Try-On program may require a refundable deposit. If a deposit applies, it will be clearly disclosed on the frame selection page and charged when the box ships. Once frames are returned in acceptable condition, the deposit will be refunded to the original payment method.
The short answer is: Custom Lenses. We stock lenses for some prescriptions but we custom make most prescriptions, which includes high cylinder values (±2.00 and over) and high sphere values (±9.50 and over). Stock lenses are not the best at these strengths, so we custom make your lenses from scratch to get the best possible vision, and one flat charge covers the pair. We are the only online prescription eyeglass company making lenses from scratch for high cylinder prescriptions and most prescriptions in general. This way your lenses come out thinner and clearer. When one eye has sphere ±9.50 or over and cylinder ±5.00 or over together, that pair is made with an outside lab to meet your vision needs, for one flat $189 charge on any lens type in place of the regular charge, and it takes at least 15 business days before it ships. The full picture is on our complex prescription page.
If you have a strong prescription, please make sure to order the thinnest lenses to get the best vision possible.
Digital lenses are cut from scratch on a digital surface to your exact prescription and your frame, the way it sits on your face, instead of being finished from a stock lens. Sharper to the edges, a thinner center, and the same design from pair to pair. On single vision, choose Turn your Rx into digital lenses when you order (Shamir Autograph single vision, in poly and 1.67); one flat charge covers the pair. Single vision prescriptions with high cylinder, high sphere, or prism are made this way automatically. Progressive and anti-fatigue lenses are digital on every order by design, and their price already includes it. If you spend the day at a screen, we like Anti-Fatigue more: the same digital lens with a little reading help built into the bottom.
We make them as thin as they can be made. How thin depends on the prescription itself, but your lenses are made as digital lenses, cut from scratch to your exact numbers and your frame, which brings the thickness down compared to a stock lens. If your prescription is strong, order a hi-index material (1.67 or 1.74) for the thinnest possible result. The full material menu is in the Lens Guide.
We can currently fill the following prescription ranges:
Two numbers written like 31/31 are one per eye; the lens step has an “I have two PD numbers” switch for exactly that. If your prescription lists a distance PD and a near (reading) PD, every pair other than a reading pair takes the distance PD, and a reading pair takes the near PD. Near is normally 3 mm less than distance, 1.5 mm per eye: 63 becomes 60, and 31/31 becomes 29.5/29.5. An axis written as 095 is 95.
Yes. Frame Only ships with demo lenses, which are not optical grade and are not meant to be looked through. For a pair you can wear, choose Anti-Glare Only or Blue Light Filter Only in the lens step; both are non-prescription lenses.
Every prescription lens type is available as a digital lens: single vision by choice, progressive and anti-fatigue (Shamir Relax, with a little reading help built in for screen days) on every order.
Polycarbonate Lenses. Light and strong, 10 times more impact-resistant than plastic. All lenses come with anti-reflective coating and UV protection. Add-ons available: Blue Light Filter, Transitions®, Transitions® with Crizal® Easy Pro.
Hi-Index 1.67 Lenses. For slightly stronger prescriptions. Thinner due to their ability to bend light more efficiently. Anti-reflective coating and UV protection included. Add-ons available: Blue Light Filter, Transitions®, Transitions® with Crizal® Easy Pro.
Hi-Index 1.74 Lenses. The thinnest lenses ever developed, for very strong prescriptions. Anti-reflective coating and UV protection included. Add-ons available: Blue Light Filter, Transitions®, Transitions® with Crizal® Easy Pro.
Yes. All lenses come with the following at no extra cost:
Yes. Every lens we make carries our anti-glare. The Blue Light Filter add-on is that same anti-glare with the blue light filter built in, for the add-on charge shown in the lens step, so one pick covers both.
Yes. We offer genuine Crizal® coatings as upgrades. Please note that Crizal® coatings are not done in-house.
Transitions® Gen 8, the current generation, in gray. XTRActive® is not offered.
Yes. We offer a 6 month scratch warranty on our lenses. If they get scratched or warped due to a manufacturer defect, we will replace them once for free within the first 6 months of purchase. Lens replacements take anywhere from 10 to 14 business days.
Frames must be sent in order for us to replace the lenses.
No. We do not put new lenses in a frame bought elsewhere, and we do not re-lens a Nerdy Frames pair. The one exception is the 6-month lens warranty: a manufacturer defect gets one replacement within the first 6 months, with the frames sent in. When your prescription changes, the path is a new pair.
Cellulose acetate. It’s a non-petroleum based plastic made from natural cottons and wood fibers.
While cellulose acetate is commonly found in most plastic frames on the market, not all acetates are made equal. We use a denser acetate which does not add extra weight but helps maintain its shape over time and with any frame adjustments. Cheaply made acetate will start to widen out over time, making you go in more often to get them adjusted.
No. Our frames are adult sizes. A child’s PD keeps changing until about 16 or 17, so a child’s measurement and fitting belong with a local optician.
We generate your lenses from scratch. Orders ship within 8–15 business days, depending on what’s ordered.
Expect delays during holiday periods as order volume increases and the office is closed for all major holidays. Occasionally issues do arise during lens production, and we will keep you informed if delays occur.
You have 10 days from the day you receive your glasses to start a return or exchange. Email us at [email protected] and we’ll arrange a refund or exchange, no questions asked. The recycle fees on lens upgrades listed below still apply. Refunds go to the original payment method once we receive your return and can take up to 15 business days to appear, depending on your bank.
Retired frames are excluded from our return policy.
Certain upgrades are subject to a 25% recycle fee based on the upgrade price. Standard frames and in-house coatings have no return fee. Fees apply even if a coupon or promo code was used.
| Item | Fee | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Standard frames & in-house coatings | $0 No fee |
– |
| Crizal® Coatings upgrade | 25% Of upgrade price |
$125 upgrade → $31.25 fee |
| Transitions® upgrade | 25% Of upgrade price |
$125 upgrade → $31.25 fee |
| High prescription charge, single vision (high cylinder or high sphere) | 25% Of the charge |
$129 charge → $32.25 fee |
| High prescription charge, progressive and anti-fatigue | 25% Of the charge |
$89 charge → $22.25 fee |
| Extended Rx charge (sphere ±9.50 or over with cylinder ±5.00 or over in the same eye) | 25% Of the charge |
$189 charge → $47.25 fee |
| Prism | 25% Of the charge |
$29 charge → $7.25 fee |
| Digital lenses by choice (Turn your Rx into digital lenses) | 25% Of the charge |
$129 charge → $32.25 fee |
| Varilux Progressive Lenses® | 25% Of upgrade price |
$250 upgrade → $62.50 fee |
| Anti-Fatigue / Digital Lenses | 25% Of upgrade price |
$120 upgrade → $30 fee |
| Custom Rx Polarized Sun Lenses | 25% Of lens price |
$125 lens → $31.25 fee |
| Merchandise items | $4.95 Shipping fee deducted |
Returns only, no exchanges |
Crizal® Coatings: Will be remade if a request is made within our return window.
Transitions®: This feature is built into the lens and requires inspection if a problem occurs.
Progressive Lenses: Remake requests must be submitted within our return policy window. We allow up to two remakes if you are dissatisfied, but each request must fall within the return policy window and the original lenses must be returned to us.
To change your email, sign in, open My Account, and use Edit e-mail. We send a 6-digit code to the new address, and the change takes effect only when that code is entered, so the new address has to be one you can receive mail at. To delete your account, email [email protected] from the address on the account; deletion is by request and is completed within 90 days of the request.
We are not owned by a large conglomerate like Luxottica. We are independently owned and minority-owned.
Nerdy Frames began as a small eyewear company in NYC in 2012. Since then, we’ve expanded to offices in NYC and Cleveland, providing premium-quality frames and prescription lenses at affordable prices, directly to our customers, with no middlemen.
Unfortunately, we don't have any direct partnerships with vision insurance providers, but we can assist you in getting a reimbursement for your purchase after you have paid in full at the time of purchase. In order to be reimbursed, you will first need to fill out a form from your insurance provider. After you fill out their reimbursement form, you will need to provide an itemized receipt, which we can provide you with once you have completed your purchase. We've provided some links below of popular vision insurance providers to help you get started.
Please contact your vision insurance for more information on how to file for a reimbursement.
If you have any question or you need an itemized receipt, please email us at [email protected]
We accept both FSA and HSA payments, as long as they are in the form of a credit or debit card. After you have had completed a purchase with your FSA/HSA, you can then file for a reimbursement with your vision insurance provider.
