I've been paying $350-400 for my high strength prescription glasses for most of my life. Last time around I heard you could order from England and get them for a fraction. Found selectspecs.com and got my -10's for ~100 shipped to my door. Not affiliated at all, just glad I don't have to pay the gouge in the US anymore.
Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
41–50 of 326 posts
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#42"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,…
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 can personally attest to this. Warby Parker lenses delaminated quickly. Measured in weeks.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#43Glasses 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?
Your employer may offer pre-tax vision insurance, this vision insurance is run by Luxottica, and works exclusively at their retail locations and brands.
Sometimes employers will even pay part of the vision insurance premium, thus making it, so your choices are to leave that money on the table OR pay completely out of pocket post-tax dollars.
There are alternative ways to use pretax dollars on eyeware, but many people aren't familiar with them and they require some management.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#44"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,…
You know, my family member bought a pair of cheap glasses for 2 $ in India. Granted it was probably not very powerful or may last long. But I am shocked at the definition of what is cheap. I am now skeptical if the glasses he bought actually work well enough for him.
$2 is extremely cheap.
Sure, it's enough to pay for the materials (frames cost pennies, and cheap lenses maybe $1?).
But someone still has to cut the the lenses to size, and fit them to the frame. This requires both equipment and skill.
I don't think I've ever paid less than $15-$20 for prescription single-vision glasses. I've paid more even in the 'wholesale' optical market in Beijing.
$2 is easily achievable for reading glasses, which are mass produced with lenses installed at the factory.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
> Why can't a new company simply undercut the competition? They can and they do [1]. They just don't have the same marketing budget, so you don't hear as much about them. [1] https://www.zennioptical.com/
I'll second this recommendation. I've had the same pair of $35 glasses for 5 years now, I wear them every day, and they're still good as new.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
> Why can't a new company simply undercut the competition? They can and they do [1]. They just don't have the same marketing budget, so you don't hear as much about them. [1] https://www.zennioptical.com/
Not to mention the pupillary distance is not commonly included on optical prescriptions which creates a significant hurdle, even though it can be measured yourself or usually given when asked.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#47Earlier 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 can personally attest to this. Warby Parker lenses delaminated quickly. Measured in weeks.
Yikes, I did have my suspicions about their 'no-scratch guarantee' and why it wasn't simply called a warranty.
Not to mention their warranty on frames are also only 30 days...
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#48Because of insurance, which distorts markets.
Lots of people get benefits that pay for their glasses, so they're not incentivized to be economical.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
> Why can't a new company simply undercut the competition? They can and they do [1]. They just don't have the same marketing budget, so you don't hear as much about them. [1] https://www.zennioptical.com/
I have been using zennioptical for years, and I’ve saved friends and family lots of money with my recommendations. They don’t do fancy, brand name frames. But otherwise the quality is fine.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why can't a new company simply undercut the competition? They can and they do [1]. They just don't have the same marketing budget, so you don't hear as much about them. [1] https://www.zennioptical.com/
Not to mention the pupillary distance is not commonly included on optical prescriptions which creates a significant hurdle, even though it can be measured yourself or usually given when asked.
Zenni will send you a cool little cardboard ruler that sits on the bridge of your nose to measure PD. It suffices (I am wearing my Zenni frames as I write this).
I hate hate hate EssilorLuxxotica.