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

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

#201

Post by Fins »

interlocutor wrote: post #107

The reason glasses cost so much is because one company owns: (1) nearly all brand name frames including Ray-Ban, Oakley, Prada eyewear, Armani eyewear and so on, (2) nearly all retail stores such as LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical and Target Optical and (3) EyeMed, one of the largest vision insurance companies. See this eye-opening 60 Minutes story on Luxottica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDdq2rIqAlM…

Aren't they now EssilorLuxottica and also control a good chunk of lenses market as well?

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

#203

Post by ghaff »

tzs wrote: post #124
dawhizkid wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I wonder if that depends on state and/or who prescribes it? I got a new prescription in 2017-07-07, and just took a look at it. It says it expires 2019-07-07. I'm in Washington, and got it at Walmart.

I thought it was a state thing. But it's apparently an FTC rule that started with contacts and was expanded to glasses as some point.

Not that I would advocate anyone taking shortcuts on eye exams, but assuming online US providers insist on appropriate documentation and doctors' names, there's always ordering from Canada.

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

#204

Post by pakitan »

Jemaclus wrote: post #86
pugworthy wrote: post #19

You want to know what's outrageously expensive, yet equally important for basic ability to function in the workplace and other situations? Hearing aids. Hearing aids are glasses for your ears. But compared to them, glasses are unbelievably dirt cheap, and basically fully covered by a lot of decent company insurance plans. Hearing aids? Not the case. Imagine if glasses cost $2-3000 per lens. PER LENS. And your company…

Yes, this is true. I'm actually fortunate in that I'm completely deaf in one ear and "only" profoundly deaf in the other. That means I only have to spend $3000 instead of 2x that. It's ridiculous. My hearing aid is 6 years old and I'm sure it's about to fail, but I can't afford a new one right now. It's absolute insanity.

Do the $3000 hearing aids differ significantly than, say, this:

https://www.amazon.de/Audiben-PSA-H%C3%B6rverst%C3%A4rker-Pr...

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

#205

Post by pkaye »

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…

Does that include the high-index material? Anti-scratch coating? Frames that don't look pathetic? Progressive lenses? Those are the things that really bring up the costs in the US.

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

#206

Post by rconti »

Ironically, I pay even more to avoid Luxottica.

VSP encourages me to buy "preferred" brands with even larger frame discounts if I go with one of these generic "designer" companies.

Instead, I pay even more to get glasses I actually like; all-carbon-fiber frames from Bellinger in Denmark.

I pay an extra dollar or two a month in order to qualify for new frames every year; that money more than pays for itself when I get 20% off $600-$800+ frames.

As a guy, my glasses are about the only fashion accessory I have, so it's worth it to me. But if it's not worth it to you, Costco will happily sell you cheap glasses, as will the various online retailers.

As usual, don't trust what the industry wants to tell you you have to buy.

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

#207

Post by a2dictator »

Just buy glasses in / from India. The Indian government price protects most prescriptions because otherwise the poor will be absolutely excluded from them. So too with eye glasses. I bought mine in 2005 for the equivalent of $20 & they are running perfectly fine even now. I bought another pair in 2016 for the equivalent of $55 & they are now my backup. Both prices are including frames. My prescription had changed very little.

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

#208

Post by LorenPechtel »

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…

I don't think the doctors normally measure the PD, they leave that to the ones who cut the glasses. That really does cause problems for doing it online, though.

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

#209

Post by ghaff »

lowercased wrote: post #174
hindsightbias wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learned you can't assume anything when you buy an expensive set of noise-canceling headphones and then spend an international flight with two people behind you prattling. It just made their conversation clearer. Also nearly jumped out of my seat in a terminal when a gate announcement was made. Guy across from me pulled out his IEM and said "you know airports increased the volumes on their announcements because peop…

QC20 are 'in-ear' not 'over the ear', with their molded rubbery ear plug things to help block out leakage. they're not perfect, and on their own , yes, noise cancelling can just make voice somewhat clearer. I always pipe a bit of grey noise through the ears to mask that (unless I'm piping music through).

Overall they're pretty good though. Until I got a pair and watched movies in a plane wearing them I never really realized how high I had to pump the volume to overcome the engine noise.I pretty much wear them all the time in a plane now even if just to use the noise cancelling.

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

#210

Post by RugnirViking »

wuliwong wrote: post #142
kilo_bravo_3 wrote: post #47

Glasses are not expensive. Convenient glasses, or glasses with recognizable brand names, available in one hour at your local mall are expensive. My glasses were $29 plus shipping. The magical mystery superpower that I developed after being bitten by a radioactive wombat which enabled me to break through the chains of Luxxotica and do (according to people on the internet) the impossible and escape their "monopoly" was…

Haha, that's what I was wondering. How is this a monopoly if I'm able to buy glasses for $25?

You're taking a pretty narrow view of what a monopoly is with your anecdote.

A monopoly is where a company gets large enough that it is able to leverage its market share in anticompetetive ways (charging outrageously high prices, far above the competition, for exampe).

NOT where its literally impossible to buy other brands or where a company has 100% market share. That scenario is impossible and will never happen in any market.

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