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Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

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Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#31

Post by dpandya »

derekdahmer wrote: post #16

Same price as Costco ($50) for 12pk Acuvue Oasys - thats great. If it went lower I'd switch. By the way most of your images especially on the homepage seem to be scaled up past their native resolution which makes the site look really fuzzy. Your logo for example is 30px but scaled to 50px. An easy win on landing page design would just be to re-export those images at the right resolution.

We're transitioning to a new website ( which is already live on mobile devices when you go to https://beta.jetlenses.com/ ) . It's probably order of magnitude better and the logo is rendered as an SVG :)

Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#33

Post by anomatopoeia »

ablaster1 wrote: post #14

Weird to see that they're not at all cost competitive with most retailers online other than 1800 which is very expensive. Feels like YC is losing its edge?

Not at all cost competitive for my brand either.

Contacts are a commodity item - whenever I need to reorder contacts I do a lazy 2 min search for the cheapest price online and order there. Customer experience is same everywhere.

Not sure what sort of competitive edge JetLenses has, seems like the idea would've been great in 1995. As a long time contact wearer this market has already been disrupted pretty severely .

For me costs going down fairly steadily since the advent of 1-800-Contacts and the subsequent federal law which put an end to the shenanigans of eye doctors trying to block online fulfillment.

Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#34

Post by [deleted] »

cbg0 wrote: post #26
benehmke wrote: post #21

FWIW, the biggest pain is the prescription. My doctor only does 1 year prescriptions, my prescription hasn't changed for 15 years. It's important to get your eyes checked, but every year is a bit nuts. I guess we have some federal organization to thank for that. I'd love to see you guys figure that problem out. Maybe you could figure out how to ship from out of the US or something. Hell, I'd pay more if I didn't have…

> It's important to get your eyes checked, but every year is a bit nuts. Sounds pretty reasonable to me, and it's not just to update your prescription, it's also to check how healthy your eyes are.

[deleted]

Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#35

Post by ocdnix »

I'd like to have metadata about the materials used in the lenses, specifically info about wetting agents. My go-to lens is Acuvue Moist, which has the "Lacreon" wetting agent, aka polyvinylpyrrolidone. When my lens store stopped carrying Moist, I had a hard time figuring out which other brand would have an equivalent gradual moisture release effect, given the jungle of proprietary material names. I'm not saying I'd like to see the chemical formula for each lens (although that would be nice too), but some physical parameters beyond brand name and type of lens would be useful.

Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#36

Post by yznovyak »

I'm in Ukraine now and it seems that I can buy most of the lenses for a fraction of US price. Here's one of the online shops I used last time: https://linza.com.ua/ to convert UAH to USD you can divide by 25 (actually 27, but 25 gives good enough approximation and is easier to divide by). The same lenses I bought with VSP in the US for >= $150 cost here $14/month. And the most expensive monthly supply of daily lenses here costs $38.

Heck. Here's a vending machine in a random gas station in Moscow selling them contact lenses: https://imgur.com/a/mCf9XfB

Going to an eye doctor to check your eyesight can be done in pretty much any contact lens/glasses store on a walk-in basis. Last time my eye exam was free because I happened to buy a pack of lenses (I overpaid for the lenses, though).

The US seriously needs to figure out why the heck are you paying so damn much before you guys consider universal healthcare.

Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#37

Post by 6841iam »

I don't think your claim is true. You are not the lowest price.

I just purchased Biotrue ONEday 90 pack today from EZContacts today.

You say the price is https://imgur.com/a/66wFxvS $69.99 cheapest plan (option 2)

But just today I purchased it from EZContacts for $30.79

https://imgur.com/a/3x4ZzTD

So you'd be best served to Google for the contact lens of your choice and pay for whats the cheapest.

Note: When I tried to re-order from EZContacts, they were charging close to $50. So always start a new search when you are trying to order Contacts online!

Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#38

Post by sca4 »

benehmke wrote: post #21

FWIW, the biggest pain is the prescription. My doctor only does 1 year prescriptions, my prescription hasn't changed for 15 years. It's important to get your eyes checked, but every year is a bit nuts. I guess we have some federal organization to thank for that. I'd love to see you guys figure that problem out. Maybe you could figure out how to ship from out of the US or something. Hell, I'd pay more if I didn't have…

Check out simplecontacts.com - they do a renewal exam that takes like 2 minutes and they'll sell you contacts too. I checked my brand - Acuvue Daily Moist and it's cheaper there than on Jetlenses

Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#39

Post by namibj »

1996 wrote: post #25
benehmke wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just order from the UK

no prescription needed?

You need a prescription to buy contact lenses in the US? Pills and such makes sense, but what can you do wrong with contacts, apart from having the wrong strength/astigmatism?

Re: Launch HN: JetLenses (YC S18) – Lowest Prices on Contact Lenses

#40

Post by dpandya »

ocdnix wrote: post #35

I'd like to have metadata about the materials used in the lenses, specifically info about wetting agents. My go-to lens is Acuvue Moist, which has the "Lacreon" wetting agent, aka polyvinylpyrrolidone. When my lens store stopped carrying Moist, I had a hard time figuring out which other brand would have an equivalent gradual moisture release effect, given the jungle of proprietary material names. I'm not saying I'd l…

That sounds interesting, but if you've been prescribed the Acuvue Moist, you can only purchase the Acuvue Moist as per law. So, although this info would certainly be interesting (and maybe reduce some customer confusion), it wouldn't actually be actionable.
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