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One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

onedollarglasses.org

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Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#91

Post by awqrre »

Arcsech wrote: post #11

Glasses are a total racket. Purchasing your glasses online is many, many times cheaper than going to Lenscrafters or basically any other brick & mortar store in the US. I've been buying online for years and they're every bit as good as usual ones. You do need your pupillary distance, but you either measure this yourself with the help of a friend, or ask your optometrist. If they refuse or tell you how evil buying gla…

I tried Zenni Optical's oleophobic coating (finger-print resistance) and didn't notice any improvement when compared to a lense without any coatings... but besides that, I am happy with their glasses so far.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#92

Post by swirlee »

criddell wrote: post #89
swirlee wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in the U.S. and this happens you can and should file a HIPAA complaint. Vision care providers are bound by HIPAA just like other medical providers and with few exceptions they are required to give you a copy of your protected health information (PHI) upon request, which includes your PD. The provider may require you to make the request in writing and may charge you a reasonable fee for e.g. the time it take…

They didn't have my PD because they don't measure it until you are ordering glasses.

Ah, well, not much you can do about that, then.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#93

Post by Alupis »

ceejayoz wrote: post #83
rtfs wrote: post #6

why are these glasses so cheap?

The real question is why are other glasses so expensive, and the answer is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica .

It's a bit disingenuous to compare these $1 wire glasses to glasses you would buy from an Optometrist.

There are some very clear and distinct differences.

Yes, there is a lot of bloat in prescription glasses pricing, but it's not 99% bloat (ie. it's not a $1 cost-to-manufacturer product being sold to you).

Frames are overly expensive, but a trivial comparison will reveal most frames are a lot more sturdy/well-constructed than a simple 18awg wire bent into shape.

The real expense is the lenses, and their coatings. The lenses in the $1 glasses surely cannot have anti-glare/fog/scratch/shatter coatings, otherwise the lenses alone would cost far more than $1! Also, the quality of manufacturing plays an important role, as other HNers have pointed out (the precision shape of the lenses, etc.).

The real "meat" of this thing isn't to highlight how over-priced prescription glasses are, it's to showcase a well intentioned charity that's providing clear vision to people who would not be able to get it any other way. These people will accept less quality, because the alternative is not being able to see. The $1 donation price-point enables a wider range of folks to be able to donate, which feeds the cycle.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#94

Post by telesilla »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #73
telesilla wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that mid-lower-range shops are a racket: however, don't discount the luxury and privilege of high-end options of dedicated professionals. My glasses cost in total almost $1000. I wear them almost every waking moment, they are exceptional designer hand-made frames from France with Zeiss lenses and Japanese transition technology, and the optometrist is top-of-the-line who also does an eye cancer check each year…

At that price, I would consider laser surgery.

I'd be subject to presbyopia, and prefer to wear bifocals.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#95

Post by Animats »

How do they do cylindrical axis with a small inventory of lenses and non-round lenses? The three parameters for lenses are spherical radius, cylindrical radius, and axis of the cylinder. A complete set of a good range in all three is large, which is what leads to custom lenses.

There's a known way to cut costs with round lenses. With round lenses, you can have a small inventory of premade lenses with only two parameters. The axis is set with a little notcher that makes a notch which locks it to a bump in the frame, so it can't rotate. These have been used in India for decades. There's an optical store in an attache case.

If the One Dollar Glasses guys only use 25 different lenses, are they just blowing off the cylindrical correction entirely? Are these just "readers" like the ones available cheaply at most drugstores? Those you can get on Alibaba for $0.75 each in bulk.[1]

[1] https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Premade-Distance-Glas...

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#96

Post by branchless »

Declanomous wrote: post #58
dragonwriter wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Costco's profit comes from their membership fees rather than selling anything Membership is key both because its essentially zero cost, and because paid membership motivates choosing Costco as the place to make purchases (one reason Costco sells so,much more per unit of floospace than, e.g., WalMart), but Costco, absolutely, does make profits from sales, even if its margins are fairly low.

Well, their stated goal is to only make as much profit as is needed to cover their expenses. I personally don't consider that profit, but the price they sell goods for is indeed greater than the cost they bought them for.

Surely salaries have to be taken into account? If they fill their boots ratger than shareholder profits customers still pay.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#97

Post by ryao »

Arcsech wrote: post #11

Glasses are a total racket. Purchasing your glasses online is many, many times cheaper than going to Lenscrafters or basically any other brick & mortar store in the US. I've been buying online for years and they're every bit as good as usual ones. You do need your pupillary distance, but you either measure this yourself with the help of a friend, or ask your optometrist. If they refuse or tell you how evil buying gla…

If they tell you that buying glasses online is evil, they likely work for Luxottica:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h7H-_8UkmFU

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#98

Post by codingdave »

Animats wrote: post #95

How do they do cylindrical axis with a small inventory of lenses and non-round lenses? The three parameters for lenses are spherical radius, cylindrical radius, and axis of the cylinder. A complete set of a good range in all three is large, which is what leads to custom lenses. There's a known way to cut costs with round lenses. With round lenses, you can have a small inventory of premade lenses with only two paramet…

That is the impression that I got - they are just like off-the-shelf reading glasses. But so what? They are giving cheap glasses to people in poverty who had nothing before. Sure, you can buy similar thing in bulk for similar prices, but can you then also deliver them to these people for the other quarter? Even if you can do so, are you actually doing so? These guys are. I'm not going to criticize them for it.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#99

Post by branchless »

ren01r wrote: post #55

I am using prescribed glasses since I was in 3rd grade. I feel like I'm wasting money when I spend more than 1000 INR (around 15 USD) on glasses. I can't imagine spending 700 USD on glasses. I can live on that money for about 4 months with that money.

People spending $700 are buying it from a store that has to pay US rent, US employers paing US rent. You need to adjust for local wages.

Re: One Dollar Glasses – Help for 150M people

#100

Post by Spooky23 »

Arcsech wrote: post #11

Glasses are a total racket. Purchasing your glasses online is many, many times cheaper than going to Lenscrafters or basically any other brick & mortar store in the US. I've been buying online for years and they're every bit as good as usual ones. You do need your pupillary distance, but you either measure this yourself with the help of a friend, or ask your optometrist. If they refuse or tell you how evil buying gla…

Unless you're completely price sensitive or completely brand or specific style dedicated, I think this is totally wrong.

I tried a number of different companies online during off years (I have insurance that pays for glasses every two years). Warby Parker, Zenni, glasses.com and a few others.

Warby Parker glasses were junk. With the exception of glasses.com, adjustments required paying or scamming someone into adjusting them for me. The money savings were minimal compared to retail if you shop around at all.

This time I went to an actual optometrist and bought glasses through them. The cost was competitive and the process completely hassle free.

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