"Maximilian Fauntleroy III," I hear you ask. "Why do prescription glasses cost so much more in the High Street than they do over the internet?"

Why indeed.

Well, for starters, High Street outlets have huge overheads that need to be covered. Rent, rates and staff don't come cheap. And it never ceases to amaze me how many members of staff a typical High Street optician's has milling around its store.

Then there's the fact that a pair of glasses is not an everyday purchase. Despite the fact that more than 50% of the UK population wear glasses or contact lenses, hardly anybody knows how much they actually cost to make.

Which basically means that High Street opticians have been able to charge whatever they think you are prepared to pay for your glasses.

And because you would normally only buy a pair of glasses every two or so years, and because good eyesight is so important to us, we have been biting the bullet and paying the bill.

James Murray Wells found out exactly how much a pair of glasses really costs - and his findings led to the birth of Glasses Direct. As a 21 year old student, he paid a High Street optician £150 for a pair of glasses, a sum he considered a huge amount for "a bit of plastic and a bit of glass".

He decided to do some research and eventually found a labratory in Lancashire that agreed to make him a pair of glasses from his prescription. The cost? £5.

Glasses Direct has turned James into one of the country's top young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs like to make money. But if you ask me, with standard prescription glasses starting at just £15, he's entitled to every penny he earns.

Of course James isn't an optician, but Mark Bowden of Spex4less certainly is. And so was his father. And his grandfather too. So you can bet your bottom dollar that Mark knows a thing or two about glasses. And Mark too sells prescription glasses with prices starting at £15 a pair.

The likes of James and Mark are doing for glasses what Stelios and Ryanair's Tony Ryan did for airfares.

Of course price alone cannot be your guiding principle when buying prescription glasses. But you can rest assured that both the frames and lenses are of the same high standard as found on the High Street. And if it's designer frames that you want - Gucci, Armani, Christian Dior, Pierre Cardin, Diesel - they are also available at much lower prices!

So what's the catch?

What if you receive your glasses and they don't fit?

What if the prescription is wrong?

What if you simply don't like them?

As far as catches go, you'll be pleased to hear there isn't one.

Mark at Spex4less backs his glasses with a 100% "no exclusions" guarantee.

If for ANY reason you aren't 100% satisfied with your glasses, Mark will exchange them for another pair (even if you don't like the colour!), replace the lenses (even if YOU made a mistake on your prescription) or give you a full refund.

Over at Glasses Direct it's much the same story.

There are other internet suppliers of glasses that I am looking to recommend, but at present their guarantees - while good - aren't as good as the above. Until that changes I can't give them my top dog seal of approval.

So by buying your glasses online from either Spex4less or Glasses Direct you have nothing to lose and much to gain.

Now that you know that you can buy prescription glasses online for less money than you would pay on the High Street - and at no risk - you would be barking mad to buy your glasses anywhere else.