Keep an eye out for contact lenses online

Pricewatch: Ciaran Hedderly from Galway got in touch to alert readers who use disposable contact lenses to a potentially major saving that can be made by switching from the high street to the Internet.

Websites based in the US will ship branded contact lenses worldwide for a fraction of the cost of the same product closer to home, he says.

"I was able to buy a three-month supply of my day and night lenses for $55 (or just over €42) from an online retailer based in Ohio," he says. "Yet the same lenses cost me more than €100 for a three-month supply in my local Specsavers. How can opticians in Ireland possibly charge such an inflated price when it is available for so much less online?"

Specsavers, one of the major contact lens retailers in the country, does not seem to be concerned about the availability of cheaper lenses online. When contacted by PriceWatch earlier this week, it declined to comment directly on the online sale of contact lenses by US retailers. It did, however, insist that its products were "among the most competitive on the high street".

According to Specsavers, its customers receive "a thorough clinical eye examination, accurate dispensing and ongoing aftercare directed by qualified opticians in easily accessible and convenient locations". It points out that it has also introduced an online contact lens service which, it says, offers lenses at "competitive prices", albeit prices which are considerably more than those available online from other jurisdictions.

What's more...

While readers welcomed the re-opening of the Cruises Coffee outlets on the Liffey Boardwalk in Dublin, they were less pleased that the price of a large latte or cappuccino was up more than 10 per cent to €3.25. Wisdom appears to have prevailed at the outlets, however, and by yesterday the price had fallen back to the October 2004 level of €2.95.

Bob Hoffman from Wicklow is one of many readers who enjoy popping over the Border to shop. Late last year he bought a 250ml bottle of the biological aquarium supplement Nutrafin Cycle in a Wicklow pet shop for €17.25. He found the same item in Pets At Home in a Bangor shopping centre a few weeks later for the equivalent of €9.10. "A whopping 90 per cent difference for the same product. I now buy all my aquarium supplies whenever I am in the North," he says.

Patricia Mulkeen from Sligo was "astounded" by the price difference for the same item between stores in her home town at Christmas. She reports that George Murphy's CD was being sold in Tesco in the Sligo Town Centre for €14.50. Nearby Star Records was selling it for €22.99, while the Record Room was selling it for €23.98.

If you notice a significant price increase or discrepancy, let us know by e-mailing pricewatch@irish-times.ie