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Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

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Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#51

Post by fshbbdssbbgdd »

planetsprite wrote: post #23
petilon wrote: post #19

Glasses 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?

Because the people who can measure which glasses you need are in on it.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#52

Post by lotsofpulp »

petilon wrote: post #28
planetsprite wrote: post #23

Earlier 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?

If you manufacture glasses, how are you going to get it into the hands of consumers? Luxottica owns the retail stores and the insurance company.

Retail stores can be started by anyone, and there are tons of optometrists that sell glasses from their own store.

The “insurance” company presents a higher barrier, since it is basically the government handing a discount to people for buying via employer subsidized vision “insurance”. The discount is that this benefit can be paid with pre tax dollars, so it obfuscates the real prices when people with vision insurance shop for eyewear.

I put “insurance” in quotes because the annual benefit maximums, like dental “insurance”, are so low that the premiums are simply prepaying for routine exams/eyeglasses. In effect, employer subsidized dental/vision insurance is just an advantage for large employers who can afford to administer those benefits and the employees who are lucky enough to work at those kinds of employers get to pay for routine dental/vision with pre tax dollars.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#54

Post by asicsp »

newyankee wrote: post #35
rahimnathwani wrote: post #3

"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.

Probably mass-produced?

Glass lenses cost me Rs 1000 (about $12.5) a few months back (myopia, -5) - I'd say these were on the cheaper side, and no special coating (they cost as much as the lenses themselves!!). Frames on the cheaper end also cost around this much.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#55

Post by _jal »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #36
rahimnathwani wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard ... Heard from whom? I know a lot of them advertise identical quality but did you ever confirm that to be the case? You can choose what types of lenses you want. Zenni, for example, offers multiple lens options, some of which are from specific brands. https://www.zennioptical.com/glasses-lenses When you buy glasses from a bricks and mortar optician, you're getting whatever bog-standard lenses they sell, un…

The high end luxury brands such as Silhouette offer very advanced lens coatings and materials that aren't found in any of the discount stores online or brick-and-mortar, so there's definitely a difference there. It's only their full priced partner shops that carry them. They also claim to use custom technology that allows their 10+ layers of coatings to stick together much better and not flake off. The mid range to e…

> They also claim to use custom technology

Can I get them with a protective undercoating and extended warranty?

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#57

Post by vel0city »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #36
rahimnathwani wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard ... Heard from whom? I know a lot of them advertise identical quality but did you ever confirm that to be the case? You can choose what types of lenses you want. Zenni, for example, offers multiple lens options, some of which are from specific brands. https://www.zennioptical.com/glasses-lenses When you buy glasses from a bricks and mortar optician, you're getting whatever bog-standard lenses they sell, un…

The high end luxury brands such as Silhouette offer very advanced lens coatings and materials that aren't found in any of the discount stores online or brick-and-mortar, so there's definitely a difference there. It's only their full priced partner shops that carry them. They also claim to use custom technology that allows their 10+ layers of coatings to stick together much better and not flake off. The mid range to e…

> How would anyone know if they in fact got a X layer coated lens (where X could be from 3 to 8) from a discount shop?

How do you know you're getting it from the brick and mortar?

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#58

Post by [deleted] »

hyperbovine wrote: post #50
adzm wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#59

Post by davidmurdoch »

jschveibinz wrote: post #49
selcuka wrote: post #26

Earlier 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/

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.

Those fancy brand name frames are literally just different names for Luxxotica.

Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)

#60

Post by davidmurdoch »

Buy from Zenni Optical. They are inexpensive and customer service is pretty great. My daughter broke an arm of one of her frames while playing at school. I emailed Zenni asking for tips on how to repair it. They sent me replacement frames for free.
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