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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

#281

Post by sct202 »

teilo wrote: post #260
evarady wrote: post #217

I'm Eric, the founder of Topology Eyewear. Our 3D face scan (via our iPhone app) is way more accurate than a standard pupilometer used in a Doctor's office (and WAY WAY better than a ruler or dots placed by a sharpie!). We solve for monocular PD, so no need to beg your doctor for this piece of info that isn't technically part of your Rx. Check it out at http://www.topologyeyewear.com or on the App Store at http://bit…

Right. Except that you have to buy eyeglasses if you want those numbers. The app will not tell them to you, and the frames alone are $349, not counting lenses. Total price starts at $600 and goes up. So, no thanks. I'll pass.

That's insane! $349 I could buy like 10 pairs at any other online store with the upgraded coating.

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

#282

Post by lmpostor »

zrobotics wrote: post #78
themodelplumber wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had good luck with Zenni, but I know others who have not. For example, a friend of mine unknowingly picked a coating that seemed to make his lenses appear slightly yellow. It was borderline visible so he kept the glasses but later regretted it. Another friend used his cotton T-shirts to wipe his lenses free of dust, and quickly filled them with scratches. I personally EDC lens cleaning cloths now because I nea…

To be fair, I've had 'scratch proof' lenses from an optician that I have ruined in 2 months doing exactly that. And the addon coatings upsell is something many retail opticians do as well, unfortunately. Although that doesn't excuse the practice, it still feels shady to me.

If you have 'scratch proof' lenses there should be a warranty on lenses regardless of manufacturer. Industry standard is either 6 months, 1 year, or two years, and that is probably the greatest value in comparison rather than the nominal difference between hardness. Also any good optician will only say 'scratch-resistant'.

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

#283

Post by Symbiote »

RugnirViking wrote: post #189
rikkus wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Do you think perhaps you could link to a site you have good experience with? I would love to get some backup pairs but I worry about the cost

I've used https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/ . The prescription was wrong, so they gave me a massive headache, but an optician measured the glasses and said they were made exactly to the incorrect prescription.

(The second optician was helpful, so I bought glasses from her. I'll use Glasses Direct for sunglasses and so on.)

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

#284

Post by outworlder »

tianmingwu wrote: post #51

A few years ago I found a technique on youtube to help myopia by wearing slightly lower prescription glasses. And the author recommended zennithoptical.com for cheap glasses. I was almost shocked to find their price to be that cheap. And when I bought a couple of pairs, it turns out their quality is quite decent. I have since bought more than a dozen glasses from zennithoptical.com, at a total cost of about $300. And…

> A few years ago I found a technique on youtube to help myopia by wearing slightly lower prescription glasses.

That is not physically possible.

Maybe (and that's a big concession, I'm very skeptical) it could work with kids, with still-developing eyes. No amount of glasses trickery will reshape your cornea in adulthood.

Other than the physical world constraints, if this hypothesis was true, people's myopia would never progress, as you would, by definition, be wearing lower prescription glasses if this happened, so it would self-correct.

The only thing this will get you is a headache.

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

#285

Post by EamonnMR »

munk-a wrote: post #44
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…

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.

This applies to all medical everything.

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

#286

Post by outworlder »

Diederich wrote: post #134
Epskampie wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an expert, but I researched it a bit online since I found a charlatan who was promising people they could get rid of glasses completely. Expert opinion is that this is not possible, myopia is a physical condition that cannot be reversed easily. It is possible to get used slightly weaker lenses, but this is mostly your brain learning to adjust to the slight fuzziness. This seems in line with what tianmingwu ex…

> cannot be reversed easily Do you mean via some kind of therapy or intervention, or in general? I had pretty severe myopia 30 years ago, bad enough that I needed glasses in order to legally drive. But it steadily has gotten better, without any treatment. I stopped needing glasses to drive about 15 years ago, and now I have nearly perfect vision. EDIT: I searched around a bit and indeed it seems that the consensus is…

How old were you? Up to a certain age, your refractive power may change(in either direction). Doctors will often not perform LASIK until you have proven that your prescription has stabilized for a while.

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

#288

Post by drather19 »

dawhizkid wrote: post #17

Jins (Japanese company) in SF makes glasses on site in 30 minutes for https://www.yelp.com/biz/jins-san-francisco-3 Also, this story seems a few years behind given the rise of Warby Parker to address this very problem. If the person who felt compelled to spend $800 because they actually did not think they had any other option then they are living under a rock and/or being scammed by their optometrist.

Have to second the recommendation for Jins (and they also have a location at Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose). If you have a prescription, you can be in and out with a new pair of glasses in less than an hour. There's a nice selection of frame styles to choose from, and AR/high index lens are bundled into the cost (~$80-120). Lens extras like transitions, progressives, polarized/tinted, and/or blue light filters are extra and special order (2-3 weeks).

They have onsite eye exams as well for ~$65, but you'll need to find a way to reimburse with your insurance provider on your own (for out of network).

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

#289

Post by vanilla-almond »

RugnirViking wrote: post #189
rikkus wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Do you think perhaps you could link to a site you have good experience with? I would love to get some backup pairs but I worry about the cost

My dad has had a good experience with Glasses Direct in the UK. They are not the cheapest online store, but they have been around for a long time. They also offer a home trial for some of their glasses (if you are in the UK)

https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/

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

#290

Post by traek »

arielweisberg wrote: post #193
sftwds wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't hurt to ask! The last time I got my eyes examined was at some cheap lenscrafters-type store which had a promotion for 2 pairs of glasses and an eye exam for ~$60. The PD wasn't on the prescription, but the doctor made the measurement after I asked about it. There was a very limited selection of glasses that were available for the 2-for-$60 promotion, and they really tried to upsell me to more expensive fra…

Another satisfied Zenni customer. The lenses are not always perfect and the frames are not always the best. Sizing is hit or miss. What I do is buy the frame with cheap lenses to check fit, then I buy it with nice lenses if I like it. They are so cheap there is no reason not to do it this way. Even ordering multiples it ends up being inexpensive.

> They are so cheap there is no reason not to do it this way.

Besides the environmental cost, maybe.

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