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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

#361

Post by ghaff »

Baeocystin wrote: post #328
dharmab wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

When I was younger I used to tease my Mom & Dad for essentially treating their reading glasses like pens or pencils, and letting them diffuse around the house as the acquired new pairs. Now that I'm in my mid-40's, I take it all back. Having a pair, even if it isn't the exact right one, always with reach is a godsend.

When I wear my contacts, I need reading glasses. I buy them essentially in bulk from Amazon and leave them scattered everywhere.

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

#362

Post by juiyout »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #116
blackbrokkoli wrote: post #40

Title correction: Why are glasses so expensive in the US? The American eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry. Please stop using the US as the "that's how it is"-standard. In Germany, you pay a very reasonable (from my layman perspective) price for the lenses, maybe about 40$ plus another 30$ if you want to have non-reflective glasses or product from big name producers and stuff like that. Like every fashion pr…

They're very reasonable in Japan too. If you visit Japan, bring your eyeglass prescription. There are lots of stores in Tokyo that grind their own glass that are not owned by Luxottica. This is how I got the best (and cheapest) pair of glasses I've ever owned.

Same here in Taiwan. Some stores like Jins and Owndays are everywhere nowadays.

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

#363

Post by ensignavenger »

danellis wrote: post #235
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…

What are HN's rules regarding advertising? Where's the line between a helpful comment from someone recommending their own product and an ad?

Posts like this are generally accepted by the community, especially when they make it clear that the commentator has a relationship with the company.

What is technically against the guidelines is complaining about the appropriateness of a comment. It is preferred that you downvote or flag inappropriate comments. See https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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

#364

Post by cryptonector »

cheeseomlit wrote: post #340
cryptonector wrote: post #212

One word: protectionism. Nothing else can explain it. The U.S. healthcare system is rife with protectionism, and it's disgusting. From how hard it is to become a doctor, to how hard it is to build a new hospital (you need a "certificate of need" in just about all States to build one), to FDA regulations on drug manufacturing being extremely expensive, to too many drugs not being over the counter (thus requiring a tri…

I think what you're describing is bureaucracy, red tape, over-regulation and crony capitalism. Protectionism as I understand it would be measures taken to reduce competition from outside the country, not within it

When the law requires that you get a "certificate of need" in order to build a hospital, that is very much a protectionist measure. Requiring that medical student careers be approximately a decade long is another protectionist requirement. The FDA often functions to protect large players. There is a ton of protectionism in the U.S. healthcare "market".

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

#365

Post by PavlikPaja »

Aunche wrote: post #325
jolmg wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 eyes don't care about what's in front of it. The brain does the image processing, so that's the only thing that's affected by a bad prescription. If your glasses are so wrong that it causes eye strain, it may cause damage, but you'd have to purposefully put yourself into that ordeal. https://mayoclinichealthsystem.org/locations/la-crosse/servi...

The eye very much does care what's in front of it. Look up "emmetropization".

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

#366

Post by greenshackle2 »

justfor1comment wrote: post #199

Have to share this related story. I recently got a new prescription and the glasses salesman at my optometrist said that my insurance is super generous and willing to pay upto $200 every year for new glasses, so I should definitely get a pair before the end of the year. So I looked around and picked a frame I liked. The salesman measured my PD and started offering me options on the lenses. Coat this, photo reflect th…

I went to the optometrist recently. I needed to buy two pairs of glasses. I specifically told the sales guy that I didn't have $700 to spend, but I saw they had decent frames for ~$70-80 and I figured the lens wouldn't be that expensive - my prescription is not complicated - so I let him talk me into trying out some frames. We went through the whole process and the price came out to $670 for the pair. He was willing to give me a deal at $650. He was offended when I told him I'd buy them online for $75 a pair instead.

(I have simple myopia but I spend all day on the computer and my eyes get tired. I had the optometrist do the prescription at 20 feet like normal, then again at 2 feet, specifically for computer use. It comes out slightly weaker than my normal prescription. They also take a separate PD measurement for the computer glasses and it was a bit different.)

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

#367

Post by legohorizons »

The glasses industry is so structurally bundled and unsound that a disruptor like Warby Parker was able to come in and build a billion dollar business in a matter of years.

Hearing aids are similar as mentioned on the thread.

Wondering what other industries have these structurally integrated industries where a disruptor could deliver a tremendous amount of value with insider Knowledge or reintegrating a supply chain. I believe an original Warby team member worked in the eyewear industry.

I have a feeling things like Car Dealerships are next. You fundamentally have to be able to drive massive value to consumers by making a one time purchase expneisve good cheaper with an innovative business model.

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

#368

Post by kough »

wlesieutre wrote: post #273
gibybo wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

(Disclaimer: not a lawyer) Walmart might tell you not to leave, but legally speaking they probably don’t have grounds to stop you from leaving, and it may in fact be illegal for them to try. Some states have https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopkeeper's_privilege But that still requires cause to believe you stole something, and as far as I understand it, declining to be searched on its own doesn’t provide cause for that…

I have a friend who used to load up shopping carts with cases of beer and then slowly roll out of Walmart back when he was underage. They're not legally allowed to stop him and corporate policy is to avoid chasing down thefts. Do with this information what you will.

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

#369

Post by kough »

Notorious_BLT wrote: post #343
outworlder wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I... can't form a coherent response. How do you even know which prescription to get? Do you have astigmatism? How do you measure that? It's not a scam. It's just overpriced in the US, because they can't get their stuff together in the health department.

If I need a new pair of glasses with the same prescription I have now (Say, for example, I fall and break my glasses), I shouldn't be required to go get examined to get a new pair simply because it has been more than a year. I want the same thing I've been wearing, and the worst possible outcome from me getting them is that (if my prescription has worsened, which it hasn't in 4+ years) I can't see quite as clearly at…

That would be weird, good thing you are not required to get examined in order to buy glasses. I don't know why you think you are required.

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

#370

Post by onwchristian »

dwighttk wrote: post #141
dawhizkid wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

my glasses prescription doesn't have an expiration date on it. Zenni and Coastal don't care if I order new glasses using my old prescription. I haven't tried with contacts... I think my last prescription had an expiration date.

Note on contacts: because you're physically inserting a medical device into your eye, part of your annual exam is making sure that you are not causing any (potentially permanent) damage do your eye. While hopefully you are not abusing your contacts, even in normal use, sometimes the eyes can be harmed, which can cause major problems down the road for you. In my opinion, the expiration is probably a good thing if you're proponent of trying to protect people's eye health.
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