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Beware some online contact lens websites in Canada

Beware: Grey Market Contact Lenses Are Being Sold in Canada

Yes! Beware some of the contact lens websites in Canada. There are grave concerns about how and where they get their contact lenses. Even the manufacturers, like Johonson & Johnson, Alcon, Cooper and Baush Lomb are fighting to keep things safe and above-board.

Beware, some online contact lens websites in Canada are not authorized sellers of contact lenses. This should concern you as a buyer of contacts online! As the Canadian Association of Optometrists warns “Overseas distribution channels may have grey market (counterfeit) product. There are no controls to ensure that Internet sites source lenses directly from the manufacturer.”

What does this mean to you? It means you might be buying from and supporting companies that maybe you should not. Avoid buying from companies that care more about profits and money than they do quality and your experience as an online customer.

Beware some online sellers in Canada

This means that some websites may be buying their contact lenses from places like China, Vietnam, India, The Philippines or other nations where false or counterfeit contacts can be produced and distributed here in Canada. Moreover, the quality controls in other nations are sorely lacking. In other words, some Canada-based websites deal in “grey market” lenses to make more profit.

It really is THAT simple. They sell products that have brand names such as Acuvue, Biofinity, Air Optix, Dailies Aquacomfort Plus or whatever on the outside. However they may be overseas, expired lenses, from third party sources or possibly worse. No one can be sure when they come from other nations with weaker quality controls so beware.

Contact lens manufacturers are doing their part!

These manufacturers are NOT to blame, in fact they are doing their jobs properly. The company that produces the famous Acuvue brand (Johnson & Johnson), as well as Alcon (makers of Air Optix, Dailies and more) as well as Coopervision and Bausch & Lomb work tirelessly to shut down unethical sellers.

However, it is overseas, unauthorized producers and the online sites here in Canada who are putting these “grey market” products into your hands. Beware, because this could be a serious issue! Using the right products by the actual manufacturer is critically important!

Who are these sites?

You would be very surprised which sites are engaging in unethical “grey market” contact lens distribution. We know who many of them are, but we won’t tell you for fear of expensive and debilitating lawsuits from them in order to shut us up. We wish we could call them out by name. Why don’t we?

Because we are a small, humble, ethical company that cannot afford the legal bills that would be required when they sue us to shut us up. This is one way larger and/or more aggressive companies keep smaller, ethical companies like ourselves silent. Beware of those other sites.

Some contact lens sites are lying to you

In fact some of these sites even falsely claim to be “authorized” resellers. However many are not. How can this be? Sadly, such unethical actions are not yet illegal here in Canada or in any of the provinces. Since British Columbia de-regulated the sale of online contact lenses, the nation now can have access to legitimate, safe and affordable contact lenses from the established manufacturers.

However, without a nation-wide push to expose companies who are third party, grey market sellers, these websites will continue selling to unsuspecting customers.

What can you do?

Make sure you always buy your contacts lenses from authorized contact lens sellers, such as Contactsforless.ca, Clearly.ca, Costco and a few others. If you are not sure, stick to the main sites like those mentioned above to ensure you are not supporting “grey market” sellers. If you buy from authorized sellers like us, you will starve out those operating “below the margin”.

Always remember that from day 1 – Contactsforless.ca has been as ethical, honest and transparent as possible. We have NEVER engaged in “grey market” or “counterfeit” contact lens sales. But what makes even BETTER than the rest is that we donate 51% of our net profits. No one does that but us. No one! and have ALWAYS given away 51% (or more) of all net profits to help save the planet. Not one other company can make that claim.

Stay ethical and safe. Beware & always buy your contact lenses with Contactsforless.ca and be sure you are doing the right thing for yourself, for Canada, and the World.

To learn more about what the Canadian Association of Optometrists says about this, please click here.

To read more eye care and vision health articles on our site, please click here.

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