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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

#411

Post by enz »

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. I just moved from France to Tokyo last year and I bought a new pair (same characteristics).

France: 380 EUR, including cheapest frame (80 EUR), regular lenses and ophthalmologist (80 EUR). (I had no health insurance.)

Japan: 10800 JPY including pretty good quality frame (5000 JPY) best lenses from the store and no ophthalmologist.

In France, it is not uncommon to have a 500-1000 EUR pair on your nose. Not because people are wealthy, but because they have the health insurance which pays. The first question a glasses store clerk asks is: "Do you have your health insurance card, please? We're gonna check how much we can spend".

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

#412

Post by jpindar »

Diederich wrote: post #134
Epskampie wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an expert, but I researched it a bit online since I found a charlatan who was promising people they could get rid of glasses completely. Expert opinion is that this is not possible, myopia is a physical condition that cannot be reversed easily. It is possible to get used slightly weaker lenses, but this is mostly your brain learning to adjust to the slight fuzziness. This seems in line with what tianmingwu ex…

> cannot be reversed easily Do you mean via some kind of therapy or intervention, or in general? I had pretty severe myopia 30 years ago, bad enough that I needed glasses in order to legally drive. But it steadily has gotten better, without any treatment. I stopped needing glasses to drive about 15 years ago, and now I have nearly perfect vision. EDIT: I searched around a bit and indeed it seems that the consensus is…

I think whatever causes people with normal vision to become farsighted as they age also causes nearsighted people (or at least some of us) to become less nearsighted over time. It seems to be happening to me, though only slightly.

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

#413

Post by kstrauser »

patentatt wrote: post #120
munk-a wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hearing aides are also insanely cheap to produce, they are not complicated devices and that market is only surviving due to the medical device status of them causing a high barrier to entry.

I’d take issue with “not complicated.” They are very tiny, have to be very low power, and they run a surprising amount of real-time DSP. Then the whole electronics package has to be integrated with an acoustics package including multiple microphones and transducers. And the higher quality all of those acoustical components are, the more transparent the end product. And it all has to be durable enough for continuous w…

I ask seriously: could this be replicated with AirPods and an iPhone, in software?

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

#414

Post by Diederich »

outworlder wrote: post #286
Diederich wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cannot be reversed easily Do you mean via some kind of therapy or intervention, or in general? I had pretty severe myopia 30 years ago, bad enough that I needed glasses in order to legally drive. But it steadily has gotten better, without any treatment. I stopped needing glasses to drive about 15 years ago, and now I have nearly perfect vision. EDIT: I searched around a bit and indeed it seems that the consensus is…

How old were you? Up to a certain age, your refractive power may change(in either direction). Doctors will often not perform LASIK until you have proven that your prescription has stabilized for a while.

My vision was at its worst when I was in my mid 20s. It's steadily improved since then.

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

#415

Post by dang »

There have been quite a few large threads on this over the years.

2018: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17061380

2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15736573

2016: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13091936

2015: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9183464

2013: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6718224

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

#416

Post by pavon »

wuliwong wrote: post #133
flavor8 wrote: post #5

Zenni is very good. There is a slight difference in quality between them and the Armani Exchange glasses I got from an optician, but it's not significant. I got a basic pair of black framed rectangular nerd specs for $8 last week, and I'd happily wear them out. Measure the frame of a pair of glasses that looks good on your face and then try to find glasses with those measurements on Zenni.

I've been wearing glasses for over 25 years, the last 5 or so years I've been buying them from Zenni and it has been great. The best pair of glasses I've ever owned were about $25 from Zenni. I used to wear contacts a lot more until I got that one pair from Zenni. Now I wear contacts a few times a month. I had to get a new prescription, so I went to a Walmart. After, they said that they could replace the lenses in my…

When I go to the eyeglasses store 90% of the glasses I try on look great on the shelf, but I hate they way they look on me, and that is after skipping those whose dimensions are more than 1 (units?) away from what I am currently wearing. I did not find Zenni's virtual mirror to be helpful at all. I can't think of any other product that benefits more from physically trying it.

If Zenni had a trial system, I would be all over them, but their restocking fees are too high to use returns as a trial, and I've heard reports that they don't accept empty frames for returns at all.

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

#417

Post by wyclif »

briffle wrote: post #316
arielweisberg wrote: post #193

Earlier 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.

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.…

You should look at Shuron. They don't have a fancy website but they do have great customer service and offer their frames in various measurements, and if you have a large head they have frames that will fit. You can order according to the eye size, bridge size, and TPL (temple size).

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

#418

Post by wyclif »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #347
bergesenha wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around here the store has some cheap frames they use for advertizing. The problem is they look like something a crazy old aunt would wear, with wild coloring. If you want anything like normal glasses you have to pay for the expensive brands. It’s really sad seeing institutionalized and less fortunate people wearing those cheap glasses...

I actually really miss the old basic NHS frames because of this. Perfectly fine to wear every day, even if you're Michael Caine, and simply not bother with anything more expensive. They were also great for ordering a cheap second pair for manual dirty work, decorating, spare for the car, and to tide you over when the expensive pair inevitably breaks (funny that) etc. A HUGE thanks to Thatcher for removing opticians f…

If you want a good, practical, well made modern replacement for the NHS 524, check out the Shuron Freeway. They're very sturdy and have barrel hinges. Ironically, they're much better made than designer frames but they're not as expensive!

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

#419

Post by velosol »

mikekchar wrote: post #400
briffle wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 just wanted to chime in here because while I don't have a wide head, I have a long distance between my ears and my nose (i.e., narrow but long from front to back). It literally took me 40 years to figure out that if the arms of the glasses are not long enough, the glasses will tilt down, because the curve of the arm will sit on your ears. This results in really poor vision (as you can imagine). It sounds stupid tha…

Also might want to check out straight-armed glasses. Typically they'll have some roughness or rubber where they meet your ears to help stay on your head like some fancy sunglasses.
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