Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 610 posts

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#161

Post by abecedarius »

patentatt wrote: post #120
munk-a wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hearing aides are also insanely cheap to produce, they are not complicated devices and that market is only surviving due to the medical device status of them causing a high barrier to entry.

I’d take issue with “not complicated.” They are very tiny, have to be very low power, and they run a surprising amount of real-time DSP. Then the whole electronics package has to be integrated with an acoustics package including multiple microphones and transducers. And the higher quality all of those acoustical components are, the more transparent the end product. And it all has to be durable enough for continuous w…

I doubt the size constraint is pressing (as modern electronics go) unless you're trying to hide them. My decades-old high-power analog aids fit behind the ear.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#162

Post by cgy1 »

notus wrote: post #62

The bridge of my nose is shaped weird apparently and it makes most glasses not fit very well, they tend to slide down all the time. I've gone to different places and perplexed the people there trying to help me find something that fit properly. They said everything sits too far off my face. I dunno what to do but push my glasses up. I basically cant buy any of the cheap online options though because they never fit.

You're not East Asian by any chance, are you? Our noses are slightly different from Caucasian noses. If you are, try finding "Asian fit" frames.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#163

Post by gusmd »

jimmydddd wrote: post #126
themodelplumber wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to a local business a while back, where the optometrist was about 2-3 years away from retirement. I didn't want to offend them but politely and clearly stated that I would like to get my prescription. Still, they made a big act about parading me through their small collection of frames, and even suggested a few they thought I should try on. Just to humor them for a bit, I put on a pair and they made me look li…

The sad thing is that it appears that (in the US) for optomtrists, the eye exam is just a loss leader for the eye glass purchase in the "store" they also own. I assume my eye dr. went to college, medical school, and then some additional training (2 more years?). He does a very comprehensive eye exam, and my VSP insurance only pays him around $70 for the exam.

Just to clarify, optometrists do not go to Medical School, they go to a different "Doctor of Optometry" professional program. Still, your view about the US system is likely right.

Funny enough, back in my home country, "optometrists" don't exist. Everybody goes to an actual eye doctor (Ophthalmologist) to get eye prescriptions. Of course, you pay the price, as the consultations cost as much as any other doctor visit.

Edit: somebody beat me to it below :) I'll leave it here because of my second anecdata above.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#164

Post by kazinator »

munk-a wrote: post #42
blackbrokkoli wrote: post #40

Title correction: Why are glasses so expensive in the US? The American eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry. Please stop using the US as the "that's how it is"-standard. In Germany, you pay a very reasonable (from my layman perspective) price for the lenses, maybe about 40$ plus another 30$ if you want to have non-reflective glasses or product from big name producers and stuff like that. Like every fashion pr…

Canada is sadly also in the same boat as the US in terms of eye glass cost, so while the article is definitely American slanted it does effect more than just those folks.

As consumers, Canadians are not in the same boat at all, but in a tiny life boat which broke away from that boat.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#165

Post by rikkus »

blackbrokkoli wrote: post #40

Title correction: Why are glasses so expensive in the US? The American eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry. Please stop using the US as the "that's how it is"-standard. In Germany, you pay a very reasonable (from my layman perspective) price for the lenses, maybe about 40$ plus another 30$ if you want to have non-reflective glasses or product from big name producers and stuff like that. Like every fashion pr…

In the UK it’s expensive to buy glasses from the high street, but you can order them from one of several ‘online’ shops for cheap. I’ve bought several pairs of metal, rimless glasses for 30 quid a pair and they’ve been excellent. They would have been around £250 from the high street.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#166

Post by [deleted] »

CarriersSuck wrote: post #39
jawns wrote: post #15

Reminder, if you're in the US, the FTC says your eye doctor must give you your prescription after your exam. If a doctor refuses to do so, they can face legal action and penalties. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2016/05/buying-prescriptio... That said, I don't think the FTC stipulates what information must appear on the prescription. Many docs leave off your PD (pupillary distance), which is a necessary measuremen…

Your PD is not actually part of your Rx. That's why it's normally not included. Your Rx consists of a OS Rx and OD Rx.

[deleted]

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#167

Post by kabdib »

I was paying over $700 a year for glasses. Funny how the cost always seemed to add up to the max annual amount that my Vision program covered. Since my prescription basically stopped changing five years ago, I determined my IPD (pretty easy with a ruler and a mirror) and now I just order from online glasses providers, for about $100 a pair. No issues at all.

It's still important to see an eye doctor every year or two so that medical issues can be spotted early. But it's stupid to pay crazy prices for what should be a commodity.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#168

Post by paxys »

Aunche wrote: post #85
dawhizkid wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

biggest scam is that glasses/contact prescriptions only last a year in the US

Needing a prescription for glasses is a bit absurd to begin with. The worst case of wearing the wrong prescription is that you'll get a headache. I suppose it could be a bit dangerous if some drivers were slightly disoriented, but I can't imagine glasses being more dangerous than something like Tylenol.

Plus wearing glasses with a slightly different power than your own is infinitely safer than not wearing them at all.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#169

Post by crankylinuxuser »

wlesieutre wrote: post #43
walrus01 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fun costco fact, in Canada and in many US states you also don't need a membership to use their pharmacy. And also in many US states where they sell alcohol they legally can't require a membership to buy it.

I think that’s the case here in Connecticut for alcohol, though I’ve not gone and checked.

I know for a fact that Indiana is a state that cannot put membership barriers on alcohol.

I first saw a sign declaration in Sams Club stating that. When I went to the front desk, it was much gnashing of teeth to get the manual override for "alcohol exception".

And then they demanded I do the mandatory member search. Members agree to. I'm not a member. I dont consent to searches. Maybe it makes me an asshole ; they're free to make it truly member only by removing alcohol.

And also as another note, any alcohol sales in Indiana must be offered to all legal-to-purchase people. You cannot say "10% off with a kroger card". That's just as illegal as requiring a membership card.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry

#170

Post by rhinoceraptor »

throwaway2048 wrote: post #80
zrobotics wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are actually some decent alternatives avaliable on alibaba and other Chinese outlets. I helped my father with getting a pair, they were 125 and have been performing well for 1.5 years now. Sure, I wouldn't trust alibaba for most medical devices, but something like hearing aids should be safe enough. His insurance wouldn't kick in anything, and while he could afford the price he would never spend it. Since he so…

beware of cheap hearing aids, hearing loss is almost never uniform, so if they aren't adjusted properly they can be far too loud in the parts of the audio spectrum where hearing is less damaged, and can in fact cause further hearing loss. Not that this is any excuse for them costing $20,000, but its something to keep in mind, cheap abibaba ones likely just make all frequencies louder.

It seems like this could easily be solved by selling the hearing aids with a smartphone app to test your hearing and tune the aids, and a pair of flat frequency response headphones for testing.
Post reply on HN