I started looking at getting new glasses recently and due to my extremely poor vision, need all these extra addons for lenses (high-index, progressive etc.) and they get EXPENSIVE very quickly.
Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
91–100 of 326 posts
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#92I'm a customer of Zenni Optical. They have glasses from $10 - $100+.
I usually get the same set, for $100-- frameless. And that price includes blue-blocks (to reduce blue light from screens). They last long and are easily replaceable.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#93Glasses 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…
It's a pretty long list of sub-brands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EssilorLuxottica#Brands
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
$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 re…
So, probably someone is actually selling them at very low margins and/or it is subsidised by some entity.
(not indian but this is my impression from what I've read)
india has a very weird medical economy at times, geared to the costs necessary to deliver ultra-basic care to many people who are dirt-poor, utilizing generics (occasionally of questionable quality), the ultra-cheap cost of labor, etc.
for example centchroman is an interesting case-study... the government basically paid to develop and take it through trials and it was generic from day-1, and then the generics manufacturers go to work and you have birth control that can be delivered to market for under a dollar a month (4 pills) in retail quantities, and the government distributes them free because it's cheaper than pregnancy/social services.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ormeloxifene
Not that at the high level, the care isn't great, but, a lot of india is super poor and underdeveloped and delivering core medicines cheaply is relatively effective to provide a super basic level of care, they have a focus on delivering super cheap generics that cover the basic use-cases. I'm sure the glasses are cheap shitty molded plastic or something, or at most a super basic molded glass lens, perhaps with some subsidies. I'm mentally imagining the "BCG" glasses from basic training, designed to be indestructible and unscratchable (aka the birth control glasses).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_glasses
But that is the 80% solution, make em cheap and polish em up with super cheap labor and with basic materials you probably can get that down to 2 bucks or within subsidy distance of that.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 insuranc…
And, if you pay premiums, you’re more likely to actually go to your routine appointment and then your LTV is increased
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
I worked on the retail IT side of things at Luxottica. I don't even think that you've scratched the surface of just how prevalent Luxottica is: you've touched the retail side of things, but, you also haven't touched the manufacturing side of things (Lux has patents on the hinges used in glasses), the wholesaling side of things (Lux supplies generic and branded frames to your local optician on less-than-preferred term…
Glasses aren't that expensive. I buy them from https://zennioptical.com I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again. The sunglasses that we buy in a drugstore can be had for paltry sums, why not prescription eyewear?
Indeed. I buy 5 pairs of glasses at a time (cheapest ones I can manage which look OK). 5 at a time is still cheaper than 1/3rd the price of low cost normal glasses.
And each of those 5 pairs is half as durable.
It is a similarly wild situation where eye exams at Walmart can be cheaper than at a regular eye doctor covered by my insurance.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#97In Japan you can get glasses for dirty cheap, including the eye check and case that goes with it. That's what happens when you liberate the market. NOTE: it's not reimbursed but nobody cares because it's cheap.
Yep - got my current pair of glasses from Zoff for around $30 all said and done.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I worked on the retail IT side of things at Luxottica. I don't even think that you've scratched the surface of just how prevalent Luxottica is: you've touched the retail side of things, but, you also haven't touched the manufacturing side of things (Lux has patents on the hinges used in glasses), the wholesaling side of things (Lux supplies generic and branded frames to your local optician on less-than-preferred term…
Glasses aren't that expensive. I buy them from https://zennioptical.com I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again. The sunglasses that we buy in a drugstore can be had for paltry sums, why not prescription eyewear?
> I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again.
$100 sounds like it's ~10x what the price should actually be for simple plastic shapes, and it's probably more than 100x the actual cost to manufacture them.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
I worked on the retail IT side of things at Luxottica. I don't even think that you've scratched the surface of just how prevalent Luxottica is: you've touched the retail side of things, but, you also haven't touched the manufacturing side of things (Lux has patents on the hinges used in glasses), the wholesaling side of things (Lux supplies generic and branded frames to your local optician on less-than-preferred term…
Glasses aren't that expensive. I buy them from https://zennioptical.com I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again. The sunglasses that we buy in a drugstore can be had for paltry sums, why not prescription eyewear?
Damn I bought mine for ₹ 5000 (~$60) and I think I overpaid.
Re: Why are glasses so expensive? The industry prefers to keep that blurry (2019)
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Glasses aren't that expensive. I buy them from https://zennioptical.com I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again. The sunglasses that we buy in a drugstore can be had for paltry sums, why not prescription eyewear?
> I don't think that I'd ever pay more than $100 for a frame again. $100 sounds like it's ~10x what the price should actually be for simple plastic shapes, and it's probably more than 100x the actual cost to manufacture them.
You don't pay $100 on Zenni for simple glasses. I bought a pair of glasses there with metal frame, anti-glare and anti-fog coating for under $20 with shipping.