Why are glasses so expensive? The eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry • Hacker News Board

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

#51

Post by tianmingwu » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:13 PM UTC

A few years ago I found a technique on youtube to help myopia by wearing slightly lower prescription glasses. And the author recommended zennithoptical.com for cheap glasses. I was almost shocked to find their price to be that cheap. And when I bought a couple of pairs, it turns out their quality is quite decent.

I have since bought more than a dozen glasses from zennithoptical.com, at a total cost of about $300. And by using the technique, the prescription on both of my eyes dropped by 1 (from -5.75 to -4.75). Unfortunately that seems to be the limit of that technique. But I was extremely happy to find a source for cheap yet good glasses. Now I have two normal prescription pairs for daily use like driving, two more pairs for reading (1 for backup for each).

So the cheapest way to get glasses now is to get a prescription at Costco (cost about $40), then just buy your glasses online.

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

#52

Post by Insanity » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:13 PM UTC

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…

In Belgium it largely depends. I paid about 120 for my current glassed, but due to having bad eyesight (worse than -8.0) I almost don't pay for them at all! Socialism at work.

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

#53

Post by ddingus » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:13 PM UTC

dawhizkid wrote: post #46

jawns wrote: post #15

Reminder, if you're in the US, the FTC says your eye doctor must give you your prescription after your exam. If a doctor refuses to do so, they can face legal action and penalties. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2016/05/buying-prescriptio... That said, I don't think the FTC stipulates what information must appear on the prescription. Many docs leave off your PD (pupillary distance), which is a necessary measuremen…

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

That's maybe Fair given the potential rate of change.

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

#54

Post by slowtokyo » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

dawhizkid wrote: post #17

Jins (Japanese company) in SF makes glasses on site in 30 minutes for https://www.yelp.com/biz/jins-san-francisco-3 Also, this story seems a few years behind given the rise of Warby Parker to address this very problem. If the person who felt compelled to spend $800 because they actually did not think they had any other option then they are living under a rock and/or being scammed by their optometrist.

Jins is great. I only buy eyewear there.

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

#55

Post by uf » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

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…

70$ for glasses in Germany? I have to pay about 200€ per glas. Maybe weaker glasses are cheap. After all you can buy glasses in the supermarket for a few bucks.

Those modern glasses get scratches after just a few years of careful handling and cleaning only with „Mikrofaser“ in my experience. No fun having weak eyes in Germany.

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

#56

Post by michaelbuckbee » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

lowercased wrote: post #37

pugworthy wrote: post #19

You want to know what's outrageously expensive, yet equally important for basic ability to function in the workplace and other situations? Hearing aids. Hearing aids are glasses for your ears. But compared to them, glasses are unbelievably dirt cheap, and basically fully covered by a lot of decent company insurance plans. Hearing aids? Not the case. Imagine if glasses cost $2-3000 per lens. PER LENS. And your company…

i believe it. bose might be poised to get in to that market. their 'hearphones' struck me as a first attempt, although it's not marketed as a medical device (AFAIR).

I'm seeing more and more of these "smart headphones" that happen to maybe increase selective noises and cancel some others out but are not "hearing aids" due to the medical device designation.

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

#57

Post by notus » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

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…

Well it's a US site that talks mostly about US companies, US tech industry, and other US things. Talking about other countries is more of an exception to the rule than the standard (when discussing things where a country might come up). The article itself is a US newspaper with a largely US readership.

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

#58

Post by detaro » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

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…

Really depends, you can easily spend hundreds on glasses if it's not something standard.

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

#59

Post by rsynnott » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

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…

Yeah, it's pretty weird. Test and basic glasses are free or near-free for most people in Ireland (if you've got a job it's covered under PRSI, if you don't it'll be covered by the medical card). If you're covered by neither (ie fully private), ~60 euro. I'm not sure what's stopping US vendors from just importing glasses from Europe...

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

#60

Post by briandear » Wed, Jan 23, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

lowercased wrote: post #37

pugworthy wrote: post #19

You want to know what's outrageously expensive, yet equally important for basic ability to function in the workplace and other situations? Hearing aids. Hearing aids are glasses for your ears. But compared to them, glasses are unbelievably dirt cheap, and basically fully covered by a lot of decent company insurance plans. Hearing aids? Not the case. Imagine if glasses cost $2-3000 per lens. PER LENS. And your company…

i believe it. bose might be poised to get in to that market. their 'hearphones' struck me as a first attempt, although it's not marketed as a medical device (AFAIR).

AirPods are being used as de facto hearing aids as well.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2018/06/26/a...