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

261–270 of 610 posts

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

#261

Post by gibybo »

logfromblammo wrote: post #232
RandomTisk wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is a "mandatory member search"?

The receipt check is the mildest version of it. They can search your cart, and potentially also your person, for store items that you haven't paid for. If you are not a member, you have not consented to it, and the transfer of ownership already occurred at the point of sale. So you can walk past the exit line and right out the doors. Attempting to hold you in the store against your will could be considered kidnapping…

Doesn't Walmart do this without a membership? How do they get away with it?

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

#262

Post by jolmg »

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.

> The worst case of wearing the wrong prescription is that you'll get a headache.

Doesn't using the wrong prescription worsen eyesight faster?

At least, it's been my general experience that when a child is curious about people's glasses and is given the glasses so they can experience the effect, they only let them try it for a couple seconds and are explained that using them for too long can cause damage to their eyesight (because it's the wrong prescription for them who have perfect eyesight). Is that a myth?

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

#263

Post by Buttons840 »

kazinator wrote: post #118
wenc wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is somewhat hard to get right. I did it with a marker and old glasses, and I still got it wrong (and couldn't return the glasses that I ordered).

Ah, but no it isn't! See kazinator's dead accurate, no-friend-required method here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13092902

Clever. Seems obvious in retrospec though.

It reminds me of collimating a telescope with a laser or your eye. You basically look down the optics of the telescope and you should be staring into your own eye, or if you use a laser the laser should be reflected by the mirrors exactly back into the emitter.

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

#264

Post by antisthenes »

dawhizkid wrote: post #46
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…

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

In many states it doesn't - you can ask for an extension to 2 years and in some states you can ask for a longer timeframe than that.

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

#265

Post by zimzam »

dawhizkid wrote: post #46
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…

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

The length actually varies by state and it ranges from 1 to 10 years.

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

#266

Post by kevin_b_er »

joering2 wrote: post #173
rootusrootus wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original article too long for you to get through? ;-) The company that basically owns the entire eyewear industry top-to-bottom is Italian. Just merged with a French company. I know it's popular on HN to talk about how crappy the US is, but in this case you jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Serious question: how can one "own" the whole industry? What stops me from opening my own eye glass store and sell my own made-at-the-back of the store glasses ??

They also own the 2nd largest insurance providers for eyeglasses, EyeMed. Your customers will likely pay extra to buy from you.

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

#267

Post by hello_friendos »

RickS wrote: post #227
joering2 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: how can one "own" the whole industry? What stops me from opening my own eye glass store and sell my own made-at-the-back of the store glasses ??

They own the distribution channels, top to bottom[1]. Lenscrafters, sunglass hut, target optical, etc. If you don't play ball, they'll kill your distro. They did this to oakley in a hostile takeover[2] – luxottica cut them off and took almost 40% off their stock price. Oakley was then bought by lux. What's stopping you from selling mom and pop? Mostly nothing. Warby Parker – and to a lesser degree, coastal – are doin…

EyeBuyDirect is owned by Essilor. Coastal is owned by Clearly, which is owned by Essilor.

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

#268

Post by ethagknight »

interlocutor wrote: post #236
evarady wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fun fact: Costco and Walmart surface their lenses on equipment made by Essilor (Satisloh subsidiary). Also if you're buying "transitions" branded photochromatic lenses - that's Essilor too.

If EssilorLuxottica was an American company the EU would have fined them a few billion dollars, and split them up a long time ago.

I was wondering why the US hasn’t gone after Luxottica, and I’m guessing that’s the answer: US crackdown on Lux will lead to retaliatory action by EU.

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

#269

Post by bluGill »

kazinator wrote: post #110
ddingus wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's maybe Fair given the potential rate of change.

You can go decades without a change, or a significant change (more than half a diopter).

Significant change isn't just the RX, it is other things that can go wrong in the eye as well. IF caught early it can be corrected, otherwise you may not notice until you are half blind.

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

#270

Post by bluGill »

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…

Hearing aids are sold to hunters at a much lower price (as noise protection and low noise enhancement). The same work goes into them, but they are not medical devices so they have to be affordable.
Post reply on HN