Contact lenses can be a great alternative to wearing glasses, but if you're anything like me, you'll probably want to try them out before deciding if you like them or not – which is the whole point of trying some free contact lenses.

If you've never worn them before, they can take some getting used to with having the lens actually on your eye, which is why I stated looking for suppliers of retailers who would let me have some free contact lenses before parting with my money.

There's quite a few retailers who will now let you have a free contact trial, but this isn't always ideal as they will usually expect you sign up for a contact of some form, as their trial is simply allowing you to find which lenses suit you best. But if you decide that contact lenses aren't for you, then you don't really wanted to be tied into anything. So you need to check that the free trial contact lenses really are free, and not some marketing gimmick.

Fortunately the major retailers in the market, like Acuvue and 1800 Contacts have listened to a lot of customer feedback in the market, and started to offer free contact samples to anybody who wants to try them out. This isn't so that you can try out various lenses to see which suit you best, but rather to see if you can actually get used to wearing contacts instead of glasses.

Generally the company offering the free contact lenses will want something in return, though it will usually be your contact details or email address so that they can follow up with you to see how you're getting on with the lenses. They won't ask for any money nor for you to sign up to any kind of contract or commitment.

The main benefit to the contact lens company is that by offering you the free contact trial, they are simply building their list of potential customers, which usually works out considerably cheaper than their normal advertising channels. The benefit to you is that you're able to try several different suppliers and brands of contact lenses to see if you can find something you can live with. You still need your contact lens prescription, which will be based on the quality of your vision, but it does mean that you can try some free contact lenses before making the decision to move away from regular glasses.