How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all

I've always followed the normal route--I have employer provided vision insurance, I would get myself tested every two years by a optometrist that my insurance covered, and I would buy glass using the prescription from the optometrist or a glasses store supported by my insurance. I don't have anything special in my glasses--single focal, no tinting or light sensitivity, and my glasses weren't remotely stylish, and I'd pay ~$50-70 after insurance.

I recently lost my glasses in a pond filled with alligators, so I wasn't going to try to retrieve them. I figured I needed cheap glasses until my insurance would cover me again. I had an old prescription but it was over a year old. I looked at Warby Parker, but they seem to require an actual prescription. So I tried Zenni Optical because all they need are the correction figures for each lens, they don't require an actual doctor signed document. Something I've always felt was weird--its not like prescription drugs, and I can decide if the glasses don't work, and a 18 month old prescription is better than no glasses.

So $35 shipped for glasses and frames, and they had a lot that were cheaper. The seem to be very good quality, they seem to work better than lost pair (the prescription didn't have a pupillary distance, so I had to measure it. My eyes are pretty wide, and a lot of lenses can't accommodate my PD, so I wonder if the optometrist just figured close enough for lenses with a lower max PD.) Before this I had no idea how much markup was in the cost of a pair of glasses. Now I'll still get my eyes checked locally, but $30 glasses is better than what I can get locally even after my insurance.

I'm a big fan of Jins (https://www.jins.com/us/) in SF. They make your glasses on-site in ~30m. Price (lens + frame) is comparable to Warby Parker.

I see what you did there

In India there is Lenskart, who even have physical stores where you can try out frames, and then they ship the glasses to you. Last time I tried I got two numbers of specs, with the top of the line optics available with them for something like 65$.

I worked in the industry until a little over a decade ago, putting myself through an engineering degree. The company I started with was bought by LensCrafters, but before it was we pretty much knew the wholesale prices on everything. After LC, LC just distributed stock to us so we didn't follow pricing.

I was always amazed at the markup. A pair of Sola lens blanks for FT28 bifocals was about $3.50. A typical name brand frame out of the Frames catalog was less than $10.00 (ie: Perry Ellis). Dies for UV and tint were several dollars a bottle and would last a few days to a week depending on sales volume. Basically one tint and uv job would pay for most of the dies and UV.

Now, most of those places were in malls, so the rent there is astronomical, that's one thing to consider.

I wouldn't say people are getting "ripped off", but there's definitely quite a bit of markup. A single vision pair with an Rx such that I could use finished lenses, I could edge, uv, light tint and assemble in about 10 - 15 minutes. You'd be paying a couple hundred for that (depending on brand), but I could do it while you wait. And if I did it, you'd be happy (no scratches, gaps, etc). I always take pride in what I do (even now with coding).

So, what's the convenience worth? Depends on you I guess.