
Sticker shock: Why are glasses so expensive? [video] - ValentineC
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50149025n
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ben1040
I usually end up getting my annual eye exam in December every year, and before
I got LASIK this invariably meant new lenses. Usually I always had FSA money
subject to a "use it or lose it" policy, too; my employer chose to opt out of
giving the grace period to spend it into the following year. So I'd end up
plowing that cash into new frames rather than just new lenses because I didn't
really have anything else to spend it on.

I wonder how policies like the addition of FSA grace periods, and the brand
new policy allowing rolling over up to $500 over to the following year's FSA
plan [1], affect Luxxotica's bottom line. I imagine I can't be the only one
who, through inaccurate forecasting of the upcoming year's expenses, had a
bunch of cash left in my FSA account and decided to burn it on glasses.

[1]
[http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230384310...](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303843104579170044087550508)

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nate_meurer
I have two pairs of glasses, one bought from Lens Crafters years ago for over
$200, and another that I bought online for less than $20 from Zenni Optical.
The glasses are nearly identical in every way, the biggest difference being a
slightly sturdier frame in the less expensive pair.

When I bought the first pair years ago, there were no online alternatives, and
I remain convinced that the brick-and-mortar spectacle vendors, along with the
drive-in optometry practices with which they are often conjoined, are
racketeers.

~~~
maratd
Ok, here's a slightly different story with an online vendor. I bought a pair
of prescription sunglasses online. I paid extra to have a thin lens. $250
order from a reputable merchant.

I received a pair of glasses with the lens half an inch thick. This is not an
exaggeration. It was literally that thick. Return and refund? Sorry, no, when
you place the order you agree that you are NOT entitled to a refund under any
circumstances, merely a replacement.

After a bit of back and forth, I sent the pair back and they blamed it on the
design of the frame. Ok. I told them to pick a frame where I would get a
normal sized lens. So they sent me the new pair, this time it was slightly
thinner, but not by much. Now there's a racket. Wasted $250 on a pair of clown
glasses with no recourse.

I got a pair at my local Pearle Vision for the same price and the lens was
perfectly normal and thin. Never again.

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gabemart
Do you mind if I ask where you spent $250 online for prescription sunglasses?
Did that price include designer frames?

I got two pairs of prescription sunglasses from firmoo [1] for about $25
during a promotion. I am currently considering buying a new pair from a
different merchant at a regular price of $30-$40 depending on frames, perhaps
double that if I spring for polarizing lenses.

Dropping $250 for prescription sunglasses seems extremely expensive, unless
you chose and value branded designer frames.

[1] [http://firmoo.com/](http://firmoo.com/)

~~~
ValentineC
I just tried ordering a pair of eyeglasses from Firmoo myself. The pair of
frames (with the default 1.50-index lenses) was $39. Adding on the Ultra Thin
(1.67), UV and fingerprint-resistant coatings brought it up to a whopping
$106.90 (better lenses cost an additional $67.90).

A comparable pair at SelectSpecs [1] cost $54.33, of which $40.75 was for the
1.67 index option.

Seems like eyeglass stores make the bulk of their revenues (unsurprisingly)
from lens customisations these days.

[1] [http://selectspecs.com](http://selectspecs.com)

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bluedino
$99 for two pair of eye glasses is what the commercials say for places like
PearlVision or Lens Express.

But that's only for a very small portion of the population. "People who barely
need glasses", as I call them. My contacts prescription was 9.5 and after I
got poly carbonate lenses and a little tint and some anti-glare coating and
scratch protection I'd be looking at $400. A friend of mine who had toric
lenses spent over $550.

I kind of wonder how much the insurance companies get charged for the $99
glasses.

~~~
e12e
Indeed. I've been scraping by with my now slowly disintegrating pair of
glasses that I got five years ago. The price, before sales-tax, 645 USD - of
which 90 was for the frame, the rest for toric carbonate lenses with
scratchproof and anti-reflex coating.

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mindslight
I'm personally looking forward to ordering inexpensive glasses from Zenni so I
can go back to good old CR-39. It's easily scratched, but if I can simply
replace them more often then I don't have to choose proprietary "high-index"
material for reasonable chromatic aberration (polycarbonate is terrible for me
- large red and blue edges on everything).

Granted, "order new glasses" has been on my todo list for a while, and I
haven't quite gotten around to it. I hope when I finally get around to it,
Zenni isn't too busy due to this article :P

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HorizonXP
I just bought a pair of eyeglasses and sunglasses last week to use out my
benefits from work. My previous pair I purchased online from Coastal Contacts.
Those cost my ~$175. I spent ~$600 on my eyeglasses and sunglasses at a local
optometrist this week, after my insurance coverage.

This time around, it was a lot easier. The ladies there picked a bunch of
frames they thought would look good on me, and had me try them on. I had both
pairs picked within 30 minutes. On Coastal Contacts, I took almost a week to
finally decide on a pair. Is it worth the vast difference in price? Debatable.
I do like these glasses, they look a lot better. But overall, the experience
was better. I'd probably do it again, but only because I can afford it. I do
understand that spending ~$300 for glasses is untenable for many folks, and
the online shops do a great job of fulfilling that need.

That being said, I watched this whole video, and I think that the Luxottica
brand is amazing. Here's a scrappy little shop in the Italian Alps that went
from a small factory in the 60s to having over $9bil in sales last year in 50+
years. Not only do they own and make several eyewear brands, they own retail
stores, and they even own an insurance provider.

You can lament their monopoly all you want, but I think they're an excellent
example of what hard work and tenacity can produce. Since many of us are
aspiring founders, we can only hope to achieve such market dominance.

Also, that CEO handled that interview extremely well.

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jtolj
I've tried a bunch of cheap online vendors (Zenni, Optical4Less, Goggles4U)
over the years. All were acceptable and probably averaged about $40/pair total
with high-index lenses, but the frames always felt cheap and occasionally I'd
get a pair that give me headaches (I later learned that likely either the
pupiary distance or optical center were off).

When I did have an issue, the return process was pretty tedious and annoying,
so I usually just ended up eating the cost and dropping the glasses in a
donation bin.

After a few years, I probably ended up spending roughly the same as if I'd
gone to a local shop with the advantage of having spare glasses with the
correct prescription for the first time in my life.

Recently tried Warby Parker and although they seem extravagantly priced
($95/$120) compared to the others, the quality of the frames were noticeably
better and the customer service in a completely different universe. I had to
return my first pair from them since the frames ended up being narrower than I
expected/gave me headaches and the exchange process was incredibly quick and
painless.

I will say, for anyone thinking about ordering glasses online, try your best
to get your pupiary distance measured by a professional. It's not easy to get
opticians to do anymore, since they know you are going to buy your glasses
online but it's a difficult measurement to get yourself and being off by just
a few mm can cause headaches.

[edit - got the price of WP high index lenses wrong]

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stjarnljuset
Wow, I've experienced getting headaches every time that I've gotten a new pair
of glasses. I never thought it would be because the pupillary distance was
off. I just thought I had to adjust to the new prescription. But half of them
were from a brick and mortar store so I'd expect them to get the pupillary
distance right.

~~~
jtolj
I think that a big change in prescriptions can cause it temporarily as well,
but definitely have them re-check the prescription/PD. A surprising number of
mistakes are made.

Also if you notice that your eyes aren't centered vertically in the frames,
that can mean the optical center is off which can lead to headaches.

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arielweisberg
I buy online as does a coworker using Zenni. My main beef is that the
dimensions are nonsense resulting in glasses arriving that are comically
narrow.

I also think I have gotten some lenses that were off either with blurry spots
or the focal point not being in the right place. That happens with glasses
from brick and mortar vendors as well. I don't think the industry standards
are very high and if you complain you can't really prove anything.

~~~
lnanek2
Just use the $10 specials off Zenni myself, although never ran into any
problems. Found it kind of bizarre anyone thinks glasses are expensive any
more. Probably the same people who get contact lens exams every year instead
of just ordering international.

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NateDad
Should be tagged AUTO-PLAYING VIDEO

Sound on webpages is evil, unless I ask for it first.

~~~
scrollbar
Is "evil" really the word?

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NateDad
Hyperbole. No, not evil. But there are exactly zero times when it is ok.

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bane
I used to buy glasses on my trips to South Korea every couple years. So long
as I had my prescription, I could go into a glasses store, pick from any
number of stylish glasses, get my specialized lenses made (top of the line)
and walk out for well under $100. I think I paid around $25-30 a couple of
times. It was cheap enough that I'd buy 2 or 3 pair to take home with me.

These days, the economy of Korea has picked up enough that a pair of glasses
there runs about what it costs here in the U.S. at Costco. The selection they
have at Costco isn't quite as good or as stylish, but if you look in the "so
expensive we keep these frame under glass in the counter" they usually have
some top of the line frames for around $100. It's not 1 hour, you have to wait
about a week for them to get made, but they've always come back perfect.

~~~
300bps
I've purchased at least 3 pairs over the Internet from www.eyeglassdirect.com

I've also recommended them to several family members and friends. We've each
had really good experiences so far.

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ffrryuu
Because of the insurance system, price is no longer a consideration for the
buyer.

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smokey_the_bear
I started buying from Zenni about 5 years ago. It makes me so happy that I can
just buy new glasses when they get scratched. I spent my childhood trying to
see through $300 scratched lenses for no reason.

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sschueller
Why is this company not being investigated for being a monopoly. They control
the entire market, price competition is an illusion.

Are the law so lax in northern Italy? At what point does the EU step in?

~~~
snom380
Being a monopoly isn't illegal. Taking unfair advantage of it can be.

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cchucks
Another reason they are so expensive, is because there are other frame
manufacturers that actually make them by hand in the US, which must have high
prices. eg. like the little guys: www.somnoir.com Not a luxxotica fan, but
glasses items let you see, and they frame your face, (pretty valuable and
aesthetically paramount) As a designer its not easy to combine form and
function that operate perfectly and beautifully within the parameters of a
humans face.

~~~
cmbaus
I wish I hadn't seen those somnoir glasses. Now I want!

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Pro_bity
Totally random observation, the 7 second Pfizer logo with no sound was a great
ad. I appreciated that they did not throw an annoying preroll and was a nice
segue for the full ad after the opener.

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sgwizdak
I've been a huge fan of Warby Parker,
[http://www.warbyparker.com](http://www.warbyparker.com).

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ashwinaj
Thank you, I'll have $20 glasses from China. Can't imagine I'll ever pay a
ridiculous amount for a pair elsewhere.

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amalag
I just buy online from somewhere in Asia and you can get very high quality
glasses for around $150. That would cost $600 here.

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wengzilla
this is such an interesting piece... would love to see if in 10 years this
tactic becomes more adopted amongst companies trying to start vertically-
integrated businesses, or whether the tactic starts to receive backlash.

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DustinCalim
What kind of price can you put on vision?

-What you're likely to hear from the salesman

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ck2
Because people have insurance that can be milked for that much?

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mephi5t0
warby parker

