This is very timely for me as I have an optometrist's appointment this afternoon. My 3 year old prescription needs an update unfortunately. Three years ago these glasses cost me $NZ1500 ($US1000). I do have"off the charts" astigmatism and they're progressives as well. Does anyone here know if the online options extend to extreme corner cases like this ?
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
#302I got Lasiks done last April. It was a very scary procedure but it worked. It cost $3000. I have saved about $300 in glasses so far... assuming I wouldn't have lost/crushed a pair.
My vision is now so good people say "wow you can read that (chalkboard specials menu in restaurant etc.)?!"
Still when I was laying there with my corneas being sliced... I wasn't sure if it was such a good idea!
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
The sad thing is that it appears that (in the US) for optomtrists, the eye exam is just a loss leader for the eye glass purchase in the "store" they also own. I assume my eye dr. went to college, medical school, and then some additional training (2 more years?). He does a very comprehensive eye exam, and my VSP insurance only pays him around $70 for the exam.
I am not sure where did you get the amount of 70$ per exam. My OD charges approx 258$ which was reimbursed by VSP . I know this since he sent a bill to me after exam that showed what the cost of visit was and what was covered by VSP .
If you compare VSP and non-VSP houses, you might find that places that don't take VSP tend to be cheaper, and the final prices tend to look a lot like post-discount VSP prices.
I've seen the theory float around that VSP works a lot like Kohls: start from inflated prices, discount to actual market, and claim you're doing the customer a solid with that "what you saved" report you get. Once you add the premium, not even sure you break even.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#304[deleted]
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I don't throw away my old glasses. I keep them in various places as backups, such as in car gloveboxes, in the home emergency kit, in a bag while traveling and so on.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#306Zenni's glasses start at $6 (lenses and frames included).
I usually splurge and spend around $15 a pair.
Glasses are cheap. Many consumers are hoodwinked by vendors.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#307http://www.luxottica.com/en
in NL there is a documentary about this company and how much of influence they have on the market. Interesting, though if true, worrying
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Relative to other things like travel, commuting, home energy usage, electronics, etc, I'm guessing the environmental cost of a pair of glasses is very, very low.
It is important to focus on effective actions. For example, a lot of people think that somehow recycling affects climate change, which (AFAIK) is not true in any meaningful sense. That isn't to say one shouldn't recycle -- there are plenty of reasons to do so in many cases.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#309Brings to mind the advocacy of William Horatio Bates:
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#310The 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…
To make matters more interesting, EssilorLuxottica is going to stop separating everything, and start "bundle pricing" things -- so, whatever clarity you might have had on a receipt or something else is going to go out the window.
EssilorLuxottica is probably about 70% Sunglass Hut, 30% Vision when it comes to retail sales (I'm not factoring in Oakley). They also sell their frames on the wholesale market for independent DO's to purchase; pre-merger Luxottica did have some "house" lenses, but, they were just as expensive as Essilor lenses.
Ironically enough, Luxottica did attempt to be Costco's Vision provider for a few years back in the early 2000's, but, they did back out of it after only two years.