3 ms·

I wish everyone could visit a store like Jins in Japan and experience the near-perfect end state in the retail eyeglass race. Lots of choices. Amazing service.

I wish everyone could visit a store like Jins in Japan and experience the near-perfect end state in the retail eyeglass race. Lots of choices. Amazing service. On-site eye exam. Low prices ($50-100 per pair). Lots of locations. Most importantly, always a pleasant place to visit. I get two or three new pair every time I’m in Japan. I know there’s a Jins in SF (never been) but the Japanese retail experience never seems to translate well to the US.

sho 8y ago
Couldn't agree more. I used to buy all my glasses in Japan or Korea - the market there is mature and competitive. Over $100 would be considered "luxury". These days I go to Owndays, which has successfully expanded out from Japan - I usually go in Singapore. Most of their shops have common lenses in stock so they can make up the finished pair for you in under 30 minutes. Cost is SGD130-ish for 1 pair or under $200 for two. Quality is fine; if anything better than the expensive pairs I used to buy in Australia. I also can't understand how western markets persist in this profoundly distorted and uncompetitive state. Possibly consumer expectation? Even in this thread there's people claiming "cheap" glasses are worse, their expensive $500+ versions are better somehow. In my experience this is not the case at all and they are in most respects identical. Even if that were not the case, I would rather have numerous pairs of cheapish glasses than one super-expensive "perfect" pair - glasses are fragile and easily breakable by their very nature and until I'm a multi-millionaire I'll choose the RAIG[1] strategy every time. [1] Redundant Array of Inexpensive Glasses
- nihonde 8y ago
  Given prices for decent frames in America, I can almost justify a trip to Tokyo just to stock up on new glasses.

3 ms·

I wish everyone could visit a store like Jins in Japan and experience the near-perfect end state in the retail eyeglass race. Lots of choices. Amazing service.

by nihonde 8y ago

sho 8y ago
Couldn't agree more. I used to buy all my glasses in Japan or Korea - the market there is mature and competitive. Over $100 would be considered "luxury". These days I go to Owndays, which has successfully expanded out from Japan - I usually go in Singapore. Most of their shops have common lenses in stock so they can make up the finished pair for you in under 30 minutes. Cost is SGD130-ish for 1 pair or under $200 for two. Quality is fine; if anything better than the expensive pairs I used to buy in Australia. I also can't understand how western markets persist in this profoundly distorted and uncompetitive state. Possibly consumer expectation? Even in this thread there's people claiming "cheap" glasses are worse, their expensive $500+ versions are better somehow. In my experience this is not the case at all and they are in most respects identical. Even if that were not the case, I would rather have numerous pairs of cheapish glasses than one super-expensive "perfect" pair - glasses are fragile and easily breakable by their very nature and until I'm a multi-millionaire I'll choose the RAIG[1] strategy every time. [1] Redundant Array of Inexpensive Glasses
- nihonde 8y ago
  Given prices for decent frames in America, I can almost justify a trip to Tokyo just to stock up on new glasses.