31–40 of 326 posts
After decades with private practices, since I switched to WalMart my prescriptions are more accurate and glasses cost almost nothing.
My last pair was about the going rate, although it's been 4 years ago.
I still use Walmart for exams but buy all my glasses from Zenni.com.
They're so cheap, glasses have gone from sacred to disposable.
Glasses are expensive because there is no competition. One company - Luxottica - owns pretty much everything. You go to LensCrafters and prices seem super expensive, so you go to Pearle Vision and that's expensive too, so you go to Target Optical and prices are still high and then you think maybe glasses are expensive, since you went to multiple stores and they all have similar prices. What you don't realize is that…
Why can't a new company simply undercut the competition? I don't imagine the barriers to entry are too high for manufacturing glasses, are they?
But there isn't an open market for manufactured lenses, you have to get them into consumers hands, and you have to get prescriptions, and people want fitting and ability to try frames.
Superficially it seems that glasses are highly vertical in practice, which is why budget outfits like zenni and warby parker seem mostly to be focused on the margins of direct-to-consumer.
People need to accept that you get ripped off all the time, it just a normal part of everyday life. when you think a $5 walmart tshirt is cheap, well, the factory gets probably 50c.
Glasses are expensive because there is no competition. One company - Luxottica - owns pretty much everything. You go to LensCrafters and prices seem super expensive, so you go to Pearle Vision and that's expensive too, so you go to Target Optical and prices are still high and then you think maybe glasses are expensive, since you went to multiple stores and they all have similar prices. What you don't realize is that…
"Warby Parker recognized this as a business opportunity. I’m surprised others haven’t jumped in as well with reasonably priced eyewear." This author is uninformed. Others have jumped in. And Warby Parker wasn't even the first. 15 years ago I would buy my single-vision prescription glasses from optical4less.com. The cost was $58 for 2 pairs, including worldwide shipping. Today I buy my glasses from Zenni. Last month,…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've heard a lot of the cheaper places cutback on the fancy multi-layer coatings, so that the quality of lens is not equivalent. I know a lot of them advertise identical quality but did you ever confirm that to be the case?
I've heard ... Heard from whom? I know a lot of them advertise identical quality but did you ever confirm that to be the case? You can choose what types of lenses you want. Zenni, for example, offers multiple lens options, some of which are from specific brands. https://www.zennioptical.com/glasses-lenses When you buy glasses from a bricks and mortar optician, you're getting whatever bog-standard lenses they sell, un…
The mid range to entry luxury brands, many owned by Luxottica, use broadly available lenses and coatings, or so the discount online stores claim.
I've never been to a discount brick-and-mortar store selling the full range of Luxottica products, usually only a few styles here and there. So I can't comment there.
What I'm asking is if the claims of discount stores, like that they have access to the same lenses as full priced Luxottica stores, are actually true.
And whether they are honest with their shipped product.
e.g. How would anyone know if they in fact got a X layer coated lens (where X could be from 3 to 8) from a discount shop?
It seems trivial to ship a X-1 layer coated lens instead, with a very low possibility of getting caught.
Glasses are expensive because there is no competition. One company - Luxottica - owns pretty much everything. You go to LensCrafters and prices seem super expensive, so you go to Pearle Vision and that's expensive too, so you go to Target Optical and prices are still high and then you think maybe glasses are expensive, since you went to multiple stores and they all have similar prices. What you don't realize is that…
I don't even think that you've scratched the surface of just how prevalent Luxottica is: you've touched the retail side of things, but, you also haven't touched the manufacturing side of things (Lux has patents on the hinges used in glasses), the wholesaling side of things (Lux supplies generic and branded frames to your local optician on less-than-preferred terms), and then just the genetic beast that is their optimization efforts.
I discovered some ineffective linux and db management that was adding 15-30 minutes of closing time every night -- time where we'd have employees on the clock waiting to close the store -- and figured out why it was behaving the way that it was and fixed it so the 'point of sales' part of closing wouldn't be the hold up. Saved the company almost 13 million dollars a year in labor costs and 45 million in licensing costs when I came up with a way to replace the POS systems OS without needing a cross-ship of new hardware...and still got screwed around when it came to my hourly rate increased or getting my contract renewed...
When my girlfriend's son passed away from complications with cancer, I had flowers and cards sent from some former coworkers, but, not a single person even reached out to me until a few months later, where they asked me if I was 'ready to go back to work' after cutting my contract.
It was well known that if someone robbed a Sunglass hut, the most expensive item in the store to replace was the iPad...
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.
I'm not certain, but it sure feels like the inflated cost in North America makes it seem like eyeglasses are less affordable here than they actually are, at least in the cities.
The kicker is when I fly to North America and I see the same frames being sold there!
Edit: Eyeglasses are one of the things I recommend colleagues buy here while visiting. It's conceivable some (from nearby countries) save more than the cost of their trip!
Glasses are expensive because there is no competition. One company - Luxottica - owns pretty much everything. You go to LensCrafters and prices seem super expensive, so you go to Pearle Vision and that's expensive too, so you go to Target Optical and prices are still high and then you think maybe glasses are expensive, since you went to multiple stores and they all have similar prices. What you don't realize is that…
Why can't a new company simply undercut the competition? I don't imagine the barriers to entry are too high for manufacturing glasses, are they?
I started buying cheap 4 years ago, and surprisingly the frame is still doing well (brand frames usually last 2-3 years)
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.
I'd love to eliminate the cost and hassle of visiting an optometrist when the current prescription is working just fine.