I hate buying new glasses even more than I hate buying new shoes, which is quite a bit.

I have no idea which styles suit me, I don’t even know which “shape category” my face fits into (Round or egg-shaped? Potato-shaped, perhaps?), so I’m randomly trying on scores of frames, bending over and peering into that little rear-view mirror at at the bottom of the display stand, unable to see properly because I haven’t got my proper glasses on, forgetting which ones I like and which ones I don’t, and trying to work out which, if any, of the “unisex” frames are actually suitable for men who don’t have a sideline as a children’s entertainer.

Then the shop assistant turns up. “Those ones really suit you,” she inevitably says. “Let me tell you about our current offers…” I tell her I’ll have a think about it and slink away. And I haven’t even mentioned handling those frames that have been previously tried on by someone with a very greasy bridge. I hate buying new glasses.

Now Glasses Direct may have come up with a solution. Having previously been the first retailer to introduce a “virtual mirror” with which users could upload a photo and virtually try frames, the company has now introduced a 10-day home trial, allowing shoppers to try four pairs before they buy.

It works very simply – you choose four frames, add them to your home trial basket, and pay a £5 charge, reimbursed on purchase. Your chosen frames – with clear lenses – are sent to you in a neat little box, and you get ten days to try them, get the opinions of friends and family, see if they fall off while playing Wii Fit etc, and return them using a provided Freepost label.

If you choose to buy any of the glasses you’ve tried (or, it seems, any other pair from their range) within 28 days, the £5 charge will be deducted from the cost. Glasses Direct’s prices are pretty good, and they have a decent range of frames, including designer.

Worked like a charm for me. I instantly eliminated two frames, and friends and family helped me choose the winner from the remaining two. The only hassle involved was queuing up to hand the box back to the Post Office, but that beats scrabbling around in an opticians any day. And I got a bigger discount, too – a pop-up on the website offered a 15 percent discount on your first order, so I used that instead of the £5 trial rebate.

Success online means coming up with neat ways to solve problems. Glasses Direct have done just that. Hooray for them.

Websites Glasses Direct