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A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

businessoffashion.com

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Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#131

Post by janekm »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #76
el_benhameen wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their episode of How I Built This was pretty interesting. They talk about how they initially tried even lower prices but found that below $99, people started to question the quality of the product. That could be marketing in and of itself, I suppose. http://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=506455305:506610651

On a similar note, where I live the cheapest Ibuprofen you can buy is $10 for a 20 pack, and it's all name-brand stuff. The generic companies who sell stuff at $2 per pack in other countries tried entering the market and failed, because people didn't trust the quality.

Generics in UK supermarkets is <$0.5 a box...

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#132

Post by kevando »

quicklime wrote: post #114
kevando wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes this is all true, but the real reason glasses cost so much is because people buy vision, not glasses. And people value vision extremely high. I started a glasses company and when I'd tell people their $900 glasses cost the eye doctor less than $100, they would give me this blank stare like "so what? I can see."

I'm not sure about that. I value hydration more than vision (I could live blind, but not without water). But I wouldn't pay $900 for a bottle of water and say "so what?"

Yes you bring up a good point. A pair of glasses is quite different than a bottle of water.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#133

Post by sowbug »

dragonwriter wrote: post #89
sowbug wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same question for men's ties (though it's been a while since I've been in the market for one). Expensive ties have attractive patterns, and cheap ones have horrifying ones. But the pattern is effectively software. Is a nice tie pattern truly that hard to create?

Prices aren't determined solely on the supply side. Patterns that people are willing to pay more for are more expensive because there is more money chasing them, not because they are more expensive to create.

That's probably a component of the right answer, but you'd think that the suppliers of the less valuable patterns would adjust quickly and emulate the more valuable ones.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#134

Post by dragonwriter »

sowbug wrote: post #133
dragonwriter wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prices aren't determined solely on the supply side. Patterns that people are willing to pay more for are more expensive because there is more money chasing them, not because they are more expensive to create.

That's probably a component of the right answer, but you'd think that the suppliers of the less valuable patterns would adjust quickly and emulate the more valuable ones.

Quite often they are the same suppliers, even if the branding is different; the reason they produce both is that the “better” patterns aren't universally preferred, they are just what is preferred by people with more money to spend, and the other patterns are preferred to people with less money to spend. And there is considerable money spent making sure that those differences exist and evolve over time; because it drives spending and market segmentation.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#135

Post by walterbell »

kashyapc wrote: post #92
bambax wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All true. Also, since the glasses are better covered than the frames, vendors routinely offer to move the cost for the frames onto the glasses, so for example if you want a frame that costs €300 (!) but your insurance covers up to €200 for frames then they will charge €200 for the frame and an extra €50 for each glass. This is completely illegal but every shop does it (suggests it without prompting from customers). I…

Oh dear. That sounds sickening. (I'm due for a new pair of glasses and I'm in Western Europe). Recently, I happened to visit a store to look for a new pair of frames (& glasses). The frames were so insanely expensive I had to ask the guy: "Why are they so expensive?". The guy's short reply was: "It's the brand". When I pressed further to explain, he couldn't say anything meaningful. Moreover, the quality of these "br…

Try this: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?&_nkw=modo+frame+auth+new

If you find a model number that you like, do a web search for "modo model_no" to find out the exact size and normal price. Make sure the size is close enough to a frame that you have tried and found to be a good fit.

If you have a strong prescription, you'll want a frame with a narrower lens width, otherwise the edges of the lens will be thick, even with hi-index materials.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#136

Post by walterbell »

anonintons wrote: post #85

Does anyone know if the various brands of lens matters, e.g. Nikon v Hoya v Carl Zeiss... I have pretty bad vision, -9.0 and astigmatism so the optometrist recommend I get 1.74 high index lenses from Nikon [1], because according to him, it would be "harder/more impact resistant" and the quality would be better. I also got additional coatings, like anti-reflective, blue light, UV, etc... So I'm just wondering, if the…

Nikon has a joint venture with Essilor (soon to be Luxottica), so their lenses are very similar: https://www.essilor.com/en/medias/news/nikon-essilor-15-year... & https://www.optiboard.com/forums/showthread.php/56186-Nikon-...

Here is a chart on lens materials: http://64.50.176.246/tools/materials.php

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#137

Post by kashyapc »

walterbell wrote: post #135
kashyapc wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh dear. That sounds sickening. (I'm due for a new pair of glasses and I'm in Western Europe). Recently, I happened to visit a store to look for a new pair of frames (& glasses). The frames were so insanely expensive I had to ask the guy: "Why are they so expensive?". The guy's short reply was: "It's the brand". When I pressed further to explain, he couldn't say anything meaningful. Moreover, the quality of these "br…

Try this: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?&_nkw=modo+frame+auth+new If you find a model number that you like, do a web search for "modo model_no" to find out the exact size and normal price. Make sure the size is close enough to a frame that you have tried and found to be a good fit. If you have a strong prescription, you'll want a frame with a narrower lens width, otherwise the edges of the lens will be thick, even…

Ah, thank you for the suggestion, I'll certainly give it try. (And no, not a strong prescription.)

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#138

Post by swyx »

walterbell wrote: post #61
swyx wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>profitability per retail square foot is one of the highest are these numbers public? source?

https://www.fastcompany.com/3041334/warby-parker-sees-the-fu... "...the company is still averaging about $3,000 per square foot of retail space, a figure that’s in the same breath as Tiffany’s estimated $3,043 ... stores are not profit centers as much as marketing collateral, giant advertisements for Warby Parker’s website. “They’re synergistic,” he says, noting that 85% of Warby retail buyers have already browsed on…

amazing.
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