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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)

#231

Post by lupire »

paulmd wrote: post #94
newyankee wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, probably someone is actually selling them at very low margins and/or it is subsidised by some entity.

(not indian but this is my impression from what I've read) india has a very weird medical economy at times, geared to the costs necessary to deliver ultra-basic care to many people who are dirt-poor, utilizing generics (occasionally of questionable quality), the ultra-cheap cost of labor, etc. for example centchroman is an interesting case-study... the government basically paid to develop and take it through trials a…

India has very low labor costs, so you get a lot if all you need is something you can get by paying someone to do something with materials on hand, without substantial energy or rare materials.

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

#232

Post by Spivak »

bluGill wrote: post #229
walnutclosefarm wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Like a charm. Biggest potential hitch is that your optometrist will give you your prescription (they are required by law), but won't include your ocular measurements, which you then have to make yourself at home in order to order the glasses. Get the inter-ocular distance wrong, in particular, and your glasses will not work correctly.

Hint, when buy glasses ask about swim goggles - they will write down the PD distance (since they don't have swim goggles), and then you can keep that number. You still need to buy one final set of glasses, but you can get their cheap frames and be done.

This life hack really isn't necessary, you can just ask for your PD distance and they'll bring out a little machine that measures it. No optometrist has ever been weird about it, a few have even told me a few sites to get cheaper glasses.

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

#233

Post by bluGill »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #123
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

Got a better suggestion?

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

#234

Post by bluGill »

piaste wrote: post #134

For many people, there is an option that side-steps the racket entirely, massively improves their QoL, and can even save money in the long term - laser eye surgery. (disclaimer: prices are likely to be different in other countries) Prices and quality of LES seems to have dropped significantly even as glasses have become more expensive. I had some annoying myopy / astigmastism combo so I used to pay up to 200-300€ for…

That doesn't last as long as you think before you will need readers anyway.

I'm not saying it is a bad option, just that it isn't as great as it sounds when you are young.

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

#235

Post by apocalyptic0n3 »

wikfwikf wrote: post #172
doikor wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a lot of people you can just take lenses from the production line and cut them to shape and be done but that is not always the case. Personally I always have to wait 2 to 3 weeks to get new glasses done as the lenses have to be made to spec and the lenses alone are around 350€ and no they are not any cheaper at any online retailer that operates here if they even offer to make lenses to my spec.

Which country and what is special about your eyes or glasses? I have noticed that in France glasses with decent but standard frames cost around 5 times as much as in the UK. My suspicion is that the difference is related to how supplementary health insurance works in France rather than any special manufacturing requirements.

I'm not the OP but I just got new glasses and they were ~$500. The frames were about $180 (one of the cheaper sets in the store and about $60 more than I paid 2 years ago; yay inflation). So the lens were around $300 and took 2 weeks to produce.

I have a severe case of Strabismus (Exotropia) and my left lens requires a prism in order to keep my eyes focused on the same target. The required prism has gotten strong over the years and as it has, the price of the prism has gone up as well. The prism alone added nearly $200 to my lens cost this time around.

All that said, I imagine the lack of competition (the thread topic) is at least partly to blame for this. I highly doubt my glasses cost anywhere near that much, even if they are special.

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

#236

Post by dotancohen »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #224
dotancohen wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tint and UV coatings come in a bottle and can be applied? Can that be done at home?

It was concentrated liquid that was mixed with water and heated. If you can get your hands on it, yeah, it can be done at home. Edit: We used BPI(?) dyes and UV. Make sure you don't have anything other than scratch coating. A/R, Mirror, etc. will likely craze in the heat.

Terrific, thank you.

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

#237

Post by vitejose »

dotancohen wrote: post #227
wyclif wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I know about this. I did rinse them thoroughly. Then I used a few drops of Dawn dish detergent to wash them. But what I found was that even if you clean plastic lenses thoroughly, what counts is how you dry them. If you use paper or even a towel it can scratch them incrementally over time. It's so much more convenient (or maybe I'm just lazy!) to be able to dry glass lenses with a towel, paper towel, a t-shirt, o…

The dish detergent seems to get under coatings and ruin them, in my experience. Glass cleaner is fine, though.

Interesting. Are you referring to Windex or one of the optical-grade solutions? I used to use dish soap but I found that I can just run mine under warm water for thirty seconds or so and that gets them pretty clean.

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

#238

Post by RajT88 »

Nition wrote: post #129
RajT88 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I prefer thin frames which are more fragile.

I also toss and turn in my sleep, knocking things off the nightstand and then stepping on them when I get out of bed.

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