That depends on what you mean by expensive. It is unusual that someone has
the exact same vision in both eyes with absolutely no correction needed for
astigmatism (which is the only kind of reading lens you can get in
Walgreens). A custom made pair of lens based on an exam by an OD would most
likely be better, although it obviously will cost more. How much better,
depends on the person and their eyesight.

I've been getting by with OTC readers, two pair, to correct near and
intermediate focus. But would prefer an occupational progressive for that
purpose. I'm considering Zeiss Gradal RD. I've spent my time on this issue
with studying up on the optics best suited for providing the best clarity
for me, not much time looking at expense. I started looking and price
recently. Yep, they cost a lot more than the $16 I spend on the last pair of
OTC glasses I purchased at Bartell's Drugstore. If all I wanted was a lens
for reading at a certain range, then the expense wouldn't be warranted for
me. But I need lenses that will provide clarity for both eyes and a wide
horizontal field at all distances up to at least 10 feet; thus, I'm willing
to spend. You tell me how much it will be, and we'll both know.

mC

Realize the word "significant" is subject.  With that being said, the
answer is YES.

They can.

OTC readers make a few assumptions, including:

o  each eye needs the same prescription.
o  negligible astigmatism.
o  distance between the two pupils is average.

Most people are not "average", and some people are sensitive if their
particular eyes are not what these OTC readers assume.

So the answer is, possibly yes.

Maybe.  Depends on how picky you are about vision and how "average" your
eyes and face are (interpupillary distance; same correction needed both eyes?
astigmatism?)

A friend uses +1.0 dimestore readers and is terribly happy with them.  
I use +0.75 CR39 readers made for me expressely (though I have no astig-
matism and average interpupillary distance).  I'm sure her dimestore
glasses are polycarbonate; they're "swimmy" like my polycarbonate
safety glasses, and I can't stand to use them for more than about 15
minutes.  She thinks mine are about the same as hers for visual acuity
and comfort.

Both of us have pretty vanilla distance prescriptions (+1.0 and +1.25),
are within a year in age and have similar near prescriptions;
the difference seems to be personal tolerance, from
what I can tell.  I've worked with things under a mm most of my life, while
my friend has never really routinely worked with much under about 3mm --
whether that has anything to do with the pickiness we have about glasses,
I'm not sure.

I'm not sure I'm comparing apples to oranges or not...
No one seems to touch on the optical quality. I've used
OTC readers for a few years now. I sort of settled on the
"spectubles" from readingglasses.com as my preferred
ones. Rimless half glasses that you wear down on your
nose and look over for distance. Before the contacts I
used them extensively in front of the computer
for work.  I just got a pair of physio360 progressives,
transitions, crizal alize w/ clearguard. The clarity with
these is simply stunning. The OTC readers, even when
brand new, never approached this. I have tried a few
different brands and styles of OTC readers all in the
$10 to $20 range. They were all about the same in this
respect. Maybe it was just the ones I tried?

-Quick