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Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

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Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#121

Post by olliej »

epmaybe wrote: post #84
olliej wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would suggest checking out other optometrists, most have a much better insurance wall than they had a couple of decades ago. Or go online (to order, not suggesting an eye exam over webcam :D ). That said, I'm currently getting cataracts removed and IOL implants and insurance is like "correcting your astigmatism isn't needed so we won't cover the IOL that does that, just your distance vision". If correcting my visio…

This gets into the weeds a little but the reason boils down to money and tradition, and “what is needed” is a shifting goalpost for society. Just thirty years ago you may have never even gotten an IOL due to tradition or cost. After adoption in the developed world there was a huge push to prevent lower income countries from accessing the technology because they “didn’t need” that technology and could benefit from low…

> The fact of the matter is that few patients benefit all that much from toric lenses that fix astigmatism. Most people have less than 1 diopter of astigmatic error, which they don’t even manufacture a toric lens for at any usable tolerance (the FDA allows a +/-0.50D tolerance to all lenses including torics), and surgical modifications can nullify that to some extent.

I do think the cheapness of astigmatism correction in lenses for glasses means that more people get full correction than in the past, but if you're like me and apparently descended from mole people then correcting distance vision alone does squat. My distance vision is far from the worst at 7-8 diopters, so can be mostly corrected with normal lenses, but my astigmatism is bad enough that I wouldn't be able to legally drive without correction. Despite that, instead of getting insurance covered IOLs, I'm paying 3k each for the IOL for each eye.

Only real problem with the one I have so far is that the existing "accommodating" IOLs simply aren't particularly good, and the varying types of multi-focal IOL do cause halos, so if you're like me and already get halos they're off the table. So on the one hand my right eye now has 20/20 vision, on the other: instant presbyopia.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#122

Post by jusssi »

chasil wrote: post #90
imroot wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked on the retail IT side of things at Luxottica. I don't even think that you've scratched the surface of just how prevalent Luxottica is: you've touched the retail side of things, but, you also haven't touched the manufacturing side of things (Lux has patents on the hinges used in glasses), the wholesaling side of things (Lux supplies generic and branded frames to your local optician on less-than-preferred term…

Glasses aren't that expensive. I buy them from https://zennioptical.com I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again. The sunglasses that we buy in a drugstore can be had for paltry sums, why not prescription eyewear?

How does buying glasses online even work? I have never tried, so I'd expect it to be like buying shoes without trying them on (which I won't do either, based on in-store experience I'd be returning 9 pairs out of 10 for bad fit).

I wear glasses for 95% of time, I want to not hate how they feel.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#123

Post by dzhiurgis »

yarg wrote: post #8

Boycott Luxottica. Anyway, reminds me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpKWHSsBpnE ; glasses with user adjustable lenses. Removes the need to customise the product to the individual, and the need to see an optometrist - it reduces the cost of the product and makes 'prescription' glasses a viable option even in nations without adequate medical services.

Boycott zenni as they ignore Taiwan

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#125

Post by CorrectHorseBat »

newyankee wrote: post #35
rahimnathwani wrote: post #3

"Warby Parker recognized this as a business opportunity. I’m surprised others haven’t jumped in as well with reasonably priced eyewear." This author is uninformed. Others have jumped in. And Warby Parker wasn't even the first. 15 years ago I would buy my single-vision prescription glasses from optical4less.com. The cost was $58 for 2 pairs, including worldwide shipping. Today I buy my glasses from Zenni. Last month,…

You know, my family member bought a pair of cheap glasses for 2 $ in India. Granted it was probably not very powerful or may last long. But I am shocked at the definition of what is cheap. I am now skeptical if the glasses he bought actually work well enough for him.

$2 is cheap, but the best glasses I've ever bought start at $6, up to $30 for all the filters, so I'm not surprised you can buy something useful for $2.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#126

Post by goguy »

Just like anything you can shop around and get a good deal.

In the UK I use glasses direct, you can pick up a pair with a prescription for £50. They regularly have discount codes so most of the time that would be £35/40. Sure they aren't designer but they look ok for the price if you don't want to spend a lot, if you use them just got driving you can probably get an even cheaper pair that don't look as good.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#128

Post by RosanaAnaDana »

jusssi wrote: post #122
chasil wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glasses aren't that expensive. I buy them from https://zennioptical.com I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again. The sunglasses that we buy in a drugstore can be had for paltry sums, why not prescription eyewear?

How does buying glasses online even work? I have never tried, so I'd expect it to be like buying shoes without trying them on (which I won't do either, based on in-store experience I'd be returning 9 pairs out of 10 for bad fit). I wear glasses for 95% of time, I want to not hate how they feel.

you tyoe in your prescription and a week later they appear. if you dont like them, send them back.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#129

Post by Nition »

RajT88 wrote: post #96
chasil wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glasses aren't that expensive. I buy them from https://zennioptical.com I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again. The sunglasses that we buy in a drugstore can be had for paltry sums, why not prescription eyewear?

Indeed. I buy 5 pairs of glasses at a time (cheapest ones I can manage which look OK). 5 at a time is still cheaper than 1/3rd the price of low cost normal glasses. And each of those 5 pairs is half as durable. It is a similarly wild situation where eye exams at Walmart can be cheaper than at a regular eye doctor covered by my insurance.

I bought my lone pair of glasses in 2009 and I've replaced the lenses once since then. I wear them every day. Now I'm wondering what everyone else is doing.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#130

Post by hourago »

petilon wrote: post #19

Glasses are expensive because there is no competition. One company - Luxottica - owns pretty much everything. You go to LensCrafters and prices seem super expensive, so you go to Pearle Vision and that's expensive too, so you go to Target Optical and prices are still high and then you think maybe glasses are expensive, since you went to multiple stores and they all have similar prices. What you don't realize is that…

Capitalism stops working when monopolies take over markets.

It is urgently needed to break up all the monopolies and go back to healthy competition.

Many problems that we see in society today come from power accumulation in a few hands. The economy is becoming an authoritarian power.

Kill monopolies and growth will come back in full force. People is not out of ideas, it is just that companies do not care anymore because they have their market share assured.

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