Just get lasik. I got it a couple years ago and I recommend it highly. Never having to buy expensive glasses again is just icing on the cake.
Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
311–320 of 610 posts
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#312The bridge of my nose is shaped weird apparently and it makes most glasses not fit very well, they tend to slide down all the time. I've gone to different places and perplexed the people there trying to help me find something that fit properly. They said everything sits too far off my face. I dunno what to do but push my glasses up. I basically cant buy any of the cheap online options though because they never fit.
I've had the same problem any time I get glasses that don't have nose pads (i.e. the frame just sticks out a bit to touch the nose, rather than there being two plastic pads attached to the frame). But I found that you can buy stick-on silicone nose pads from Amazon, and these work perfectly for me. They're these little D shaped silicone pads that are sticky on one side, and maybe 1.5mm thick. You stick them onto your glasses frame and 1.) they help the frame grip your nose bridge, because they're silicone and therefore grippy, and 2.) they space the glasses a little further from your face. You have to replace them every month or two since the adhesive gives out, but they're pretty cheap and definitely worth the hassle.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#313Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 eye…
The real reason is they don't want grubby hands smudging up their glasses :)
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#314Great "Adam Ruins Everything" episode about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAeHuDcy_bY
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#315I was paying over $700 a year for glasses. Funny how the cost always seemed to add up to the max annual amount that my Vision program covered. Since my prescription basically stopped changing five years ago, I determined my IPD (pretty easy with a ruler and a mirror) and now I just order from online glasses providers, for about $100 a pair. No issues at all. It's still important to see an eye doctor every year or two…
> Funny how the cost always seemed to add up to the max annual amount that my Vision program covered
I can echo this experience. Buying eyeglasses from the optometrist office has always felt nearly the same as dealing with a car salesman.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#316Earlier 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.
I want to like Zenni, and I have ordered from them, but I am frustrated every time. I have a very, very large head. I need glasses at least 155mm wide, if not 165mm wide to fit around my temples. Yet finding data on the width of their frames is next to impossible. Even their sales people I reach via chat do not have the data. Sometimes I will see frames with some measurements, but not all, and its just inconsistent. I basically gave up, and buy from 'fatheadz' that specialize in wider frames, but they are much more expensive. For an internet only company, they sure seem to limit how you can search.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#317One of my co-workers always had a new pair of well fitted glasses on every week, and I found out she was buying them online for like $20-$40 a pair. At first I was apprehensive about the fit and quality of the glasses, but after buying a few test pairs they really are just like the store brands.
She bought a new pair every week? What a waste of money. Consumerism at its worst.
As long as they weren't throwing them out, it's no worse than having different pairs of shoes/earrings/hats and alternating between them. Glasses can be an accessory.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#318Earlier 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.
Good hack - I think I'll try this!
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#319Earlier 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.
Such a waste of an education for a job that can be done by someone less trained. The only constraint is regulatory. I get my eye exam checked every year for other more serious and complex diseases so I think there is a role for the more trained medical professionals but these exams need to be disentangled from the expensive professionals. That is the way to bring the costs down to a fraction of what they are...
Optometrists and Ophthalmologists both have training to check for disease in the eyes. In fact a dilated eye exam is a non-invasive way to get an actual look into your circulatory system to check for things like diabetes. So even people without glasses should be getting regular checkups.
Ophthalmologists also have specialized training for cutting the eye that they learn in medical school (eg: lasik), but for eye exams, an optometrist has the skill-set necessary to perform these kinds of screenings.
A lot of people just get auto-refracted or a checkup by an optician and assume that's enough to get new glasses, but those people can be among the tens of millions of Americans who don't realize they have pre-diabetes.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry
#320I 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!
Yeah, I got Lasik done 15 years ago at UCSF, where they trained ophthalmologists. It costed around $6000, with insurance covered around $1000. Best money I ever spent. The improvement to quality of life was incredible. Still get 20/20 at left eye and right eye degraded slightly to 20/30.