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Title correction: Why are glasses so expensive in the US? The American eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry. Please stop using the US as the "that's ho

Title correction: Why are glasses so expensive in the US? The American eyewear industry prefers to keep that blurry. Please stop using the US as the "that's how it is"-standard. In Germany, you pay a very reasonable (from my layman perspective) price for the lenses, maybe about 40$ plus another 30$ if you want to have non-reflective glasses or product from big name producers and stuff like that. Like every fashion product, frames start at a few bucks up to whatever you want to pay. Measurements, bending the frame are included in the service. None of this involves health insurance, as far as I know.

munk-a 8y ago
Canada is sadly also in the same boat as the US in terms of eye glass cost, so while the article is definitely American slanted it does effect more than just those folks.
- kazinator 8y ago
  As consumers, Canadians are not in the same boat at all, but in a tiny life boat which broke away from that boat.
  - munk-a 8y ago
    I'd love to agree with that, but I think you're underestimating the impact the FDA and other US regulators have in Canada. It is possible that Canada will reorient to serve the asian/european market more, but right now most trade ends up going south of the border.
traek 8y ago
It's a US newspaper. Do you also ask the German media to specify Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in every headline?
- notus 8y ago
  Knowing Germany they probably do tbh or at least it wouldn't surprise me if they did
- SiempreViernes 8y ago
  If you've written out the full name of a prime minister you've already uniquely determined which country you are talking about.
- unmole 8y ago
  Angela Merkel is Germany's Chancellor, not Prime Minister.
  - traek 8y ago
    Fixed, thanks.
Insanity 8y ago
In Belgium it largely depends. I paid about 120 for my current glassed, but due to having bad eyesight (worse than -8.0) I almost don't pay for them at all! Socialism at work.
uf 8y ago
70$ for glasses in Germany? I have to pay about 200€ per glas. Maybe weaker glasses are cheap. After all you can buy glasses in the supermarket for a few bucks. Those modern glasses get scratches after just a few years of careful handling and cleaning only with „Mikrofaser“ in my experience. No fun having weak eyes in Germany.
- Epskampie 8y ago
  You might consider an ultrasonic glasses cleaner. They are pretty cheap (around €50), and clean without touch.
  - uf 8y ago
    Thanks, I’ll check that out. But otoh it’s another thing you’d have to carry around. I‘ll also try buying glasses online as suggested elsewhere. I do that with contact lenses already (dailies for when I’m on stage).
    - stevewodil 8y ago
      I've had good luck with eyebuydirect, and have heard some good things about Zenni too.
- lolc 8y ago
  I'm sure you can get good glasses for around €120 in Germany. €60 at the cheap end. I carry lenses made from mineral glass so I can wipe them with any cloth I've got handy. They are not more expensive and scratch significantly less. The lenses are heavier and shatter quicker though.
- aaronmdjones 8y ago
  I had an eye exam today, and I need new lenses. The exam is vouchered on the NHS. I'm keeping the existing frames. The lenses will have an anti-reflective and anti-glare coating. I've never had a scratch, that I can see anyway. Total cost: £39.
- danielbln 8y ago
notus 8y ago
Well it's a US site that talks mostly about US companies, US tech industry, and other US things. Talking about other countries is more of an exception to the rule than the standard (when discussing things where a country might come up). The article itself is a US newspaper with a largely US readership.
detaro 8y ago
Really depends, you can easily spend hundreds on glasses if it's not something standard.
rsynnott 8y ago
Yeah, it's pretty weird. Test and basic glasses are free or near-free for most people in Ireland (if you've got a job it's covered under PRSI, if you don't it'll be covered by the medical card). If you're covered by neither (ie fully private), ~60 euro. I'm not sure what's stopping US vendors from just importing glasses from Europe...
- reaperducer 8y ago
  I'm not sure what's stopping US vendors from just importing glasses from Europe... They do. Mine are from Germany, but still cost $700, large part because of my prescription.
- pkaye 8y ago
  They do import them... and then mark them up a huge amount. Unless you go to a few discount places like Costco or online vendors.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  How much do the insurers get charged? Because people can go long periods of time between exams/pairs as adults, it's possible they keep their cash prices low to convince the uninsured to step in the door.
  - rsynnott 8y ago
    Private optical insurance _exists_, but basically only as a corporate perk that pays for more expensive frames, etc. Most people wouldn't have it, and it didn't exist at all until a few years ago. Private health insurance is more common, but doesn't pay for glasses or routine eye tests. I believe PRSI (the government social insurance scheme) pays about 30 euro for a basic eye test. At the big local chain, people without either PRSI or medical card (this would mostly be non-resident foreigners, plus maybe some early retirees etc), pay 30 euro, plus about 60 euro for basic frames with basic lenses.
wsc981 8y ago
I believe in The Netherlands glasses are also very expensive (unless prices have changed in the last 5 years or so, which I very much doubt). Usually my glasses and frames had costs a total of around ~400 EUR in The Netherlands. Recently I bought new glasses in Thailand and there (to my surprise) they weren't much differently prices compared to The Netherlands, which didn't make sense to me, because that would make glasses too expensive for most people here (it's about a monthly wage upcountry). Or perhaps the government provides citizens through health insurance over here, I am not sure.
- jtwaleson 8y ago
  In NL you have a couple of good and affordable options now, such as Ace & Tate and Charlie Temple where you'll get glasses for under €100. Lots of movement in the market the last couple of years.
- michaelscott 8y ago
  Got mine in South Africa (albeit with blue light filters) for roughly the same price. Possibly an almost universal thing for normal optometrists (ie not start ups).
- beering 8y ago
  You could probably order glasses from Zenni and have them shipped internationally. Even if you had to go through a reshipper, it should be a fraction of what you're paying.
  - fyfy18 8y ago
    I've used Glasses Direct (based in the UK, but ship across Europe) before and I really liked the lenses. They seem to last longer than the ones I get from high street costs (maybe because they are polycarbonate?). My only complaint is the selection of frames they do are a bit on the small side for me.
Semaphor 8y ago
> In Germany, you pay a very reasonable (from my layman perspective) price for the lenses, maybe about 40$ plus another 30$ if you want to have non-reflective glasses or product from big name producers and stuff like that. Uhm. Maybe this depends on the glasses you need? I'd not even come close to paying that little and my parents are paying even more.
swebs 8y ago
I had to pay €150 for lenses in Finland. And this was at Specsavers, the "cheap" place. Frames were only €30 though. Maybe you have a very simple prescription.
rootusrootus 8y ago
The original article too long for you to get through? ;-) The company that basically owns the entire eyewear industry top-to-bottom is Italian. Just merged with a French company. I know it's popular on HN to talk about how crappy the US is, but in this case you jumped to the wrong conclusion.
- joering2 8y ago
  Serious question: how can one "own" the whole industry? What stops me from opening my own eye glass store and sell my own made-at-the-back of the store glasses ??
  - sincerely 8y ago
    Nothing, there are even a few startups that do that. Warby Parker for example. Plus there are cheap glasses available OTR at walmart/costco. This is mainly referring to the luxury market.
  - RickS 8y ago
    They own the distribution channels, top to bottom[1]. Lenscrafters, sunglass hut, target optical, etc. If you don't play ball, they'll kill your distro. They did this to oakley in a hostile takeover[2] – luxottica cut them off and took almost 40% off their stock price. Oakley was then bought by lux. What's stopping you from selling mom and pop? Mostly nothing. Warby Parker – and to a lesser degree, coastal – are doing this. But it's a weird middle-market place to live. Similar to things like Daniel Wellington in the watch game – you're selling $5 chinese products for $100 because you have a marketing and brand engine that fashionable but unlearned people don't question. In reality, the same products can be had for far less. EyeBuyDirect is the best place for cheap glasses. First pairs are often free but for shipping, about $7, and later pairs are about #30. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica [2]https://www.thestreet.com/story/1509351/1/oakley-suffers-as-luxottica-takes-advantage-of-house-brands.html https://www.thestreet.com/story/1509351/1/oakley-suffers-as-...
    - hello_friendos 8y ago
doug3465 8y ago
What? It's an LA newspaper.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
dreamcompiler 8y ago
They're very reasonable in Japan too. If you visit Japan, bring your eyeglass prescription. There are lots of stores in Tokyo that grind their own glass that are not owned by Luxottica. This is how I got the best (and cheapest) pair of glasses I've ever owned.
- dreamcompiler 8y ago
  Postscript: My Japanese friends tell me they get their glasses from South Korea, because they're even better.
  - Scoundreller 8y ago
    On a vacation, or online and shipped to them?
- yungbeto 8y ago
  At some stores you don't even need your prescription. I recently purchased my best (and cheapest) pair while visiting Japan and an eye exam was part of the transaction - at no extra cost! As an American I was shocked at how seamless and quick I was able to walk out with a new pair of glasses
  - softgrow 8y ago
    I've done the same. Did the eye test in English with really big writing on the cue cards :). 40 minutes later my glasses are ready. Real contrast to Australia where you make an appointment for an eye test for a day or two later. The test is paid for by the government (Medicare AUD$56.80) and then select your frames (AUD$150 and up) and then come back a week later. I suppose the delay justifies the cost or vice-versa.
- juiyout 8y ago
  Same here in Taiwan. Some stores like Jins and Owndays are everywhere nowadays.
- enz 8y ago
rikkus 8y ago
In the UK it’s expensive to buy glasses from the high street, but you can order them from one of several ‘online’ shops for cheap. I’ve bought several pairs of metal, rimless glasses for 30 quid a pair and they’ve been excellent. They would have been around £250 from the high street.
- RugnirViking 8y ago
  Do you think perhaps you could link to a site you have good experience with? I would love to get some backup pairs but I worry about the cost
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    I've used https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/ https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/ . The prescription was wrong, so they gave me a massive headache, but an optician measured the glasses and said they were made exactly to the incorrect prescription. (The second optician was helpful, so I bought glasses from her. I'll use Glasses Direct for sunglasses and so on.)
    - amygdyl 8y ago
      Is there any source of information about the variability of eye prescription measurement? Anecdotally, my my op seems to be compensated by dehydration and I haven't had any inclination to drink alcohol in many years, beyond a novelty (good) beer (ale) and I still notice when tired and poorly hydrated. I searched for the services that I have learned somehow will measure individual and high accuracy prescriptions, for the custom Zeiss and Nikon lenses I found a few years ago in the catalogue websites and became obsessed with, due to the fact that I have been frustrated by astigmatism for all my life. And because I greatly prefer to wear over size frames, so I have as wide atc of corrected vision as I believe possible. The result is usually atrocious : pavements rear up and bite me, the distortion moves my measure by inches and I trip... But I eventually accommodate for the effect... I feel like this is a overhead I'd rather not task my brain with. Esssilor seems to hold a virtual monopoly... Nikon and Zeiss and Schneider exist, but in that order in very rapidly declining proportion. Corning, via Serengeti, also are worth noting. I have accustomed to the impression that you have to really know a great connection to even benefit from a reasonable selection of lenses. This is a atrocious state of any market in a free economy and democracy. Something has to be wrong. I naturally accept the fact that I may be wrong in my assumptions or understanding. But I don't seek answers for justification. I seek a solution. Frankly I'm prepared to back the first optometrist to propose to me any solution, part or whole, online, tech or steam powered, even retail. (at least serious feasibility, I'm negotiating for a lease easily, specifically in fact for double duty as, a smart central London showroom) I remember Harrods would furnish one with the Zeiss individual custom lenses. The Nikon optometrist was a North London address. I found just the two possibilities, one of each brand. We all absorb vastly greater optical information than the majority of the working population, so why is the whole subject not done and dusted long ago? We also always (we being everyone in the online fora I've encountered over the years) obsess about the budget options, whilst we are probably better off paying more attention to the cost and quality of the frames we wear, which are incredibly unpredictable in my experience of three decades of paying the same amount regardless, year in year out... Only drugs are maintained in such orderly and unchanged nominal prices. (which keeps me thinking that the market is controlled). At least, I have reglazed far fewer frames than I now think reasonable for the expenditure involved in that component. (a recent,lost, Balmain frames, the brand recently resurrected, I thought, hopefully, would last for a few years longer than others I've tried. Previous beautiful hand finished in Japan acetate frames were to combust in a fireball, with the lightest touch by my soldering iron. Barton Perreira, the make. The nicest I've worn, pity the fireball only extinguished when the oxygen was depleted in my tiny workroom. 30s i think the contact lasted but only the first one most oblique, I should have thought about spray retardant as well as common sense) Our eyes are the most worked physical tools we possess and yet I am not convinced that the vast majority of us are truly concerned as much as we should be for their corrective care. Why is there nothing like a optician's mall / supermarket / showroom like you can browse just as you do along department store displays or supermarkets aisles? Every customer is a potential multiple sales repeat customer. I think people are as bad as we are with changing banks. It's too much unknown combined with a collision with ignorance in which manner we prefer not to learn too much. A good optician, selling a £300/$500 spectacle frame, ought to be presenting a smorgasbord of benefits and features. I've not once been actively sold anything by a opticians rep. I have definitely felt a bit like I was imposing, the times I have been insistent about perusing a catalogue. I mean the catalogue intended for the retailer, not the customer. Sometimes it is the same, but when not, you can avail your selection process with so much better information, ime. This should be all laid out, on lecturns, in front of the displays. Heck, I have not even seen consideration for good quality illumination or any realistically presented mirrors, like you are used to at home. The experience is a disorientating penance. I want to challenge the notion, furthermore, that the budget market is in any way divorced from the high end and boutique /deluxe sales. Everyone I know who is willing to spend the sums demanded by the "top" brands, buys multiple pairs of sensible and affordable spectacles, often simultaneously. Nobody who has a selection of designer frames ever rushes out with the nearest to hand. That's what your sensible ones are for. In every room and the bathroom (different coatings for the condensation!) So much difficulty presents to anyone seeking quality budget spectacles, the chances are that retailing the "low end" will attract the highest spending clientele. Retail locations can decide the potential. Retail experience can secure the loyalty that consistent upselling requires. Imagine I created my perfect optician store. Why is it again that I have never been actively sold to even by the optician where I once loyally purchased over priced eyewear? Again, I have time suspect the market is rigged. Only rigged markets can't offer any more commission opportunities by which a business can compete. (this is the fate of the print publishing sector i founded my company to challenge. The result is countless publications without any sales force. I wish I was kidding. Gear for the sell side trader, right? Nah. Rigged by the buy side. By immutable commission levels. The result is a degrading torpor, where once a vibrant industry linked professionals and sectors and provided affordable effective advertising for specialist firms. My third assault on this travesty is imminent..I am on the first break /sabattical I have allowed myself a since '96, looking for hedges to leverage advertising efficiency in goods and products and possibly services. Print is not a restriction on the media planning for the leverage to be applied.) Who would not peruse a comprehensive store of spectacled, even for the visual sensory enjoyment, if you only had a neat way to weigh your choices and feel your ultimate decision is better informed as the result? (I genuinely want a online shopping tool I can trust to contain my personal data safely. Bing is not quite enough, but I never imagined that I'd champion Microsoft for protecting my rights, even relatively so.) I trained to be a salesman, to counter my introversion when I was first in work. This led to my founding my company, because I couldn't avoid the inverse correlation between salesmanship and analytical skills. My media sector was suppressed despite resistance from the most incredible sales talents I knew in my formative years. I can't believe that you'd need much to suppress the kind of sales talents in my local optician... Anti know what you can model, from a range of measurements from a prescription to the shape of your head, to extrapolate the kind of pre sales metrics and assurance that buyers will actually want to make use of? If so, what if I worked out how to provide the rest of the components necessary to trade in earnest? I'm not actually pitching anything like this now, but I am convinced that someone needs to think not too dissimilarity from my line of questioning. If you perchance, however, have been intrigued by the force of the problem pressing on the bridge of your nose, i certainly will be delighted to show you how the rest of my thinking goes, because what I have been really doing for the past year, is pursuing a idea of a hacker space for bricks and mortar retail. With real real estate retail experimental opportunity. The press will not be quiet about the death of the high street. I'm convinced that the problems lies with the way retail is done. And ZIRP or NIRP on the market for premises. But I have a replicable hack for the real estate situation and believe that hack can sustain the kind of entrepreneurial hacker space I really want to create. The kind that turns tinkering into technology, teaching, and time tested traditional trading. (or, if my late confounder could chime in, I am trying to make the customers I need to sell my discount advertising to, if I'm selling any.. There's truth in my channeling that there. At least for case studies I can analyse the heck out of. Otherwise impossible in the real world, and highly valuable potential data for econometrics to support the lobbying I see necessary to awake the market I grew up trying to enliven ..)
enraged_camel 8y ago
>>Please stop using the US as the "that's how it is"-standard. The US is the standard for the overwhelming majority of things that are commonly discussed day-to-day on this site. I'm not sure why anyone would take issue with this, other than having had their pride scratched.
- kkarakk 8y ago
  Russia set the standard in interfering in the US elections and therefore the world...
pkaye 8y ago
Does that include the high-index material? Anti-scratch coating? Frames that don't look pathetic? Progressive lenses? Those are the things that really bring up the costs in the US.
- evarady 8y ago
  At Topology Eyewear, we DON'T charge extra for super-high index (1.74) lenses, and all lenses come equipped with the best anti-reflective AND superhydrophobic coating. Because one shouldn't be forced to cut corners to deliver the best and most comfortable vision possible. Happy to answer any questions. Check it out at http://www.topologyeyewear.com http://www.topologyeyewear.com
  - jenna_talia 8y ago
    please review the HN guidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Dont spam HN with ads or comments that have no intellectual interest and no substantiative content
  - pkaye 8y ago
    How do you customize nose fit? Sounds interesting but I don't know how a picture would be enough to determine the nose contour?
    - evarady 8y ago
      we build a 3D model of your entire face, including your nose. We then 5-axis CNC the shape of your nose into the frame, creating completely custom nosepads. We also use the unique location of each of your ears to craft unique left and right temples arms, each with custom length and drop angles to match the asymmetric location of each ear (everyone has a bit of asymmetry in their face). We also customize the temple arm angles based on the base curve (front curvature) of your ultimate Rx lens, so it all fits together as a system and will never stretch out over time. It fits perfect out-of-the-box, with no adjustments required.
  - 8y ago
yitchelle 8y ago
Which German company are you using for your glasses? My wifes' glasses cost 750€ about 12 months ago. Nothing special in her prescriptions, except perhaps that she needed prisms. The German glasses shop also have a bad habit of keeping the perscriptions after they have tested your eyes and not giving you a copy. Very frustrating!
- lovetox 8y ago
  Em just tell them to make a copy and don't give the original to them? Its your property.
billfruit 8y ago
True, the kind of US centrism is quite boring, and kinds of gives the impression of Americans as insular. In India one could get a fancy, top of line pair of glasses for around 50$.
- a11595 8y ago
  One thing you learn (in middle school) in the US, is prices in capitalism are dictated by supply and demand. Now, let's take your number. $50 for a pair of glasses. Average income in India is Literally 10 times less vs US. I'll give you some time to do math. Did they teach you multiplication in your school in India?
juiyout 8y ago
I echo your view. Here in Taiwan we have wide selection albeit non-branded frame plus prescription lens from about 20USD. I personally went with ic Berlin + Zeiss lens which was a lot more expensive. Still no where near the article’s USD800 example.
- hieloz 8y ago
  It's affordable for most of us to spend 20 bucks to buy a pair of glasses,but some glasses brand such as Baodao（formosa-optical）, it sells glasses too expensive,maybe we have to pay a few hundred dollars for a pair in mainland China.
erklik 8y ago
Unfortunately, its rather similar in Australia. Got a recent quote for a pair of glasses to be at $1000.
- pandapower2 8y ago
  I feel like something has changed in Australia. I've worn glasses a long time and remember them always costing a few hundred dollars per pair. A few months ago I went into Specsavers and was able to buy glasses for under $50 per pair. My prescription hasn't changed but the prices definitely have.
  - amygdyl 8y ago
    $50 - - $1000 is some range.. Is the $50 for off the shelf long sight and the thousand dollars for a myopic wearer, with high refractive index aspherics, advanced coatings, and a fashionable marque of manufacture? I have become familiar with such deltas as I qualified, in the UK. Edit to add : I dare imagine, without basis in learning, it is possible that the future will be printed fresnel lenses. I decided to reprise my photography hobby thanks to the fresnel telephotos recently sold by Nikon. But I also imagine that, once sufficiently good inexpensive printed optics become available, the possibility for multi element corrective eyewear, will be a new market entirely. Even projected reality , without any augmentation, would attract me right now. Ag least in the design of my minds eye.
arendtio 8y ago
IMHO, the prices vary extremely but if you want to get just a basic pair of glasses, you can get away with a very cheap. I don't wear glasses myself, but last August I accompanied someone to get a pair of new glasses from Fielmann (Wikipedia: 'Fielmann is market leader in Germany and Europe's largest optician'). In the end, one glasses cost 18€ (special deal) and the other one about 57€ (sunglasses, special frame). Given the 2+ hours, we stayed at that shop (sales talk + eye testing + frame adjustments) it was probably a net loss for the company on that day. I know other people who got their glasses for about 700€ from the same shop (more expensive frame + more features (e.g. thinner lenses)). So it might be that the market situation is kinda bad and is getting abused. Nevertheless, I have the anecdotal evidence that if you are just after a vision correction (and not some fashion accessory), you don't have to pay a fortune (in Germany). This might be helpful to keep in mind when you are after your next glasses.

munk-a 8y ago

Canada is sadly also in the same boat as the US in terms of eye glass cost, so while the article is definitely American slanted it does effect more than just those folks.

kazinator 8y ago
As consumers, Canadians are not in the same boat at all, but in a tiny life boat which broke away from that boat.
- munk-a 8y ago
  I'd love to agree with that, but I think you're underestimating the impact the FDA and other US regulators have in Canada. It is possible that Canada will reorient to serve the asian/european market more, but right now most trade ends up going south of the border.

traek 8y ago

It's a US newspaper. Do you also ask the German media to specify Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in every headline?

notus 8y ago
Knowing Germany they probably do tbh or at least it wouldn't surprise me if they did
SiempreViernes 8y ago
If you've written out the full name of a prime minister you've already uniquely determined which country you are talking about.
unmole 8y ago
Angela Merkel is Germany's Chancellor, not Prime Minister.
- traek 8y ago
  Fixed, thanks.

Insanity 8y ago

In Belgium it largely depends. I paid about 120 for my current glassed, but due to having bad eyesight (worse than -8.0) I almost don't pay for them at all! Socialism at work.

uf 8y ago

70$ for glasses in Germany? I have to pay about 200€ per glas. Maybe weaker glasses are cheap. After all you can buy glasses in the supermarket for a few bucks. Those modern glasses get scratches after just a few years of careful handling and cleaning only with „Mikrofaser“ in my experience. No fun having weak eyes in Germany.

Epskampie 8y ago
You might consider an ultrasonic glasses cleaner. They are pretty cheap (around €50), and clean without touch.
- uf 8y ago
  Thanks, I’ll check that out. But otoh it’s another thing you’d have to carry around. I‘ll also try buying glasses online as suggested elsewhere. I do that with contact lenses already (dailies for when I’m on stage).
  - stevewodil 8y ago
    I've had good luck with eyebuydirect, and have heard some good things about Zenni too.
lolc 8y ago
I'm sure you can get good glasses for around €120 in Germany. €60 at the cheap end. I carry lenses made from mineral glass so I can wipe them with any cloth I've got handy. They are not more expensive and scratch significantly less. The lenses are heavier and shatter quicker though.
aaronmdjones 8y ago
I had an eye exam today, and I need new lenses. The exam is vouchered on the NHS. I'm keeping the existing frames. The lenses will have an anti-reflective and anti-glare coating. I've never had a scratch, that I can see anyway. Total cost: £39.
danielbln 8y ago

notus 8y ago

Well it's a US site that talks mostly about US companies, US tech industry, and other US things. Talking about other countries is more of an exception to the rule than the standard (when discussing things where a country might come up). The article itself is a US newspaper with a largely US readership.

detaro 8y ago

Really depends, you can easily spend hundreds on glasses if it's not something standard.

rsynnott 8y ago

Yeah, it's pretty weird. Test and basic glasses are free or near-free for most people in Ireland (if you've got a job it's covered under PRSI, if you don't it'll be covered by the medical card). If you're covered by neither (ie fully private), ~60 euro. I'm not sure what's stopping US vendors from just importing glasses from Europe...

reaperducer 8y ago
I'm not sure what's stopping US vendors from just importing glasses from Europe... They do. Mine are from Germany, but still cost $700, large part because of my prescription.
pkaye 8y ago
They do import them... and then mark them up a huge amount. Unless you go to a few discount places like Costco or online vendors.
Scoundreller 8y ago
How much do the insurers get charged? Because people can go long periods of time between exams/pairs as adults, it's possible they keep their cash prices low to convince the uninsured to step in the door.
- rsynnott 8y ago
  Private optical insurance _exists_, but basically only as a corporate perk that pays for more expensive frames, etc. Most people wouldn't have it, and it didn't exist at all until a few years ago. Private health insurance is more common, but doesn't pay for glasses or routine eye tests. I believe PRSI (the government social insurance scheme) pays about 30 euro for a basic eye test. At the big local chain, people without either PRSI or medical card (this would mostly be non-resident foreigners, plus maybe some early retirees etc), pay 30 euro, plus about 60 euro for basic frames with basic lenses.

wsc981 8y ago

I believe in The Netherlands glasses are also very expensive (unless prices have changed in the last 5 years or so, which I very much doubt). Usually my glasses and frames had costs a total of around ~400 EUR in The Netherlands. Recently I bought new glasses in Thailand and there (to my surprise) they weren't much differently prices compared to The Netherlands, which didn't make sense to me, because that would make glasses too expensive for most people here (it's about a monthly wage upcountry). Or perhaps the government provides citizens through health insurance over here, I am not sure.

jtwaleson 8y ago
In NL you have a couple of good and affordable options now, such as Ace & Tate and Charlie Temple where you'll get glasses for under €100. Lots of movement in the market the last couple of years.
michaelscott 8y ago
Got mine in South Africa (albeit with blue light filters) for roughly the same price. Possibly an almost universal thing for normal optometrists (ie not start ups).
beering 8y ago
You could probably order glasses from Zenni and have them shipped internationally. Even if you had to go through a reshipper, it should be a fraction of what you're paying.
- fyfy18 8y ago
  I've used Glasses Direct (based in the UK, but ship across Europe) before and I really liked the lenses. They seem to last longer than the ones I get from high street costs (maybe because they are polycarbonate?). My only complaint is the selection of frames they do are a bit on the small side for me.

Semaphor 8y ago

> In Germany, you pay a very reasonable (from my layman perspective) price for the lenses, maybe about 40$ plus another 30$ if you want to have non-reflective glasses or product from big name producers and stuff like that. Uhm. Maybe this depends on the glasses you need? I'd not even come close to paying that little and my parents are paying even more.

swebs 8y ago

I had to pay €150 for lenses in Finland. And this was at Specsavers, the "cheap" place. Frames were only €30 though. Maybe you have a very simple prescription.

rootusrootus 8y ago

The original article too long for you to get through? ;-) The company that basically owns the entire eyewear industry top-to-bottom is Italian. Just merged with a French company. I know it's popular on HN to talk about how crappy the US is, but in this case you jumped to the wrong conclusion.

joering2 8y ago
Serious question: how can one "own" the whole industry? What stops me from opening my own eye glass store and sell my own made-at-the-back of the store glasses ??
- sincerely 8y ago
  Nothing, there are even a few startups that do that. Warby Parker for example. Plus there are cheap glasses available OTR at walmart/costco. This is mainly referring to the luxury market.
- RickS 8y ago
  They own the distribution channels, top to bottom[1]. Lenscrafters, sunglass hut, target optical, etc. If you don't play ball, they'll kill your distro. They did this to oakley in a hostile takeover[2] – luxottica cut them off and took almost 40% off their stock price. Oakley was then bought by lux. What's stopping you from selling mom and pop? Mostly nothing. Warby Parker – and to a lesser degree, coastal – are doing this. But it's a weird middle-market place to live. Similar to things like Daniel Wellington in the watch game – you're selling $5 chinese products for $100 because you have a marketing and brand engine that fashionable but unlearned people don't question. In reality, the same products can be had for far less. EyeBuyDirect is the best place for cheap glasses. First pairs are often free but for shipping, about $7, and later pairs are about #30. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica [2]https://www.thestreet.com/story/1509351/1/oakley-suffers-as-luxottica-takes-advantage-of-house-brands.html https://www.thestreet.com/story/1509351/1/oakley-suffers-as-...
  - hello_friendos 8y ago

doug3465 8y ago

What? It's an LA newspaper.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

dreamcompiler 8y ago

They're very reasonable in Japan too. If you visit Japan, bring your eyeglass prescription. There are lots of stores in Tokyo that grind their own glass that are not owned by Luxottica. This is how I got the best (and cheapest) pair of glasses I've ever owned.

dreamcompiler 8y ago
Postscript: My Japanese friends tell me they get their glasses from South Korea, because they're even better.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  On a vacation, or online and shipped to them?
yungbeto 8y ago
At some stores you don't even need your prescription. I recently purchased my best (and cheapest) pair while visiting Japan and an eye exam was part of the transaction - at no extra cost! As an American I was shocked at how seamless and quick I was able to walk out with a new pair of glasses
- softgrow 8y ago
  I've done the same. Did the eye test in English with really big writing on the cue cards :). 40 minutes later my glasses are ready. Real contrast to Australia where you make an appointment for an eye test for a day or two later. The test is paid for by the government (Medicare AUD$56.80) and then select your frames (AUD$150 and up) and then come back a week later. I suppose the delay justifies the cost or vice-versa.
juiyout 8y ago
Same here in Taiwan. Some stores like Jins and Owndays are everywhere nowadays.
enz 8y ago

rikkus 8y ago

In the UK it’s expensive to buy glasses from the high street, but you can order them from one of several ‘online’ shops for cheap. I’ve bought several pairs of metal, rimless glasses for 30 quid a pair and they’ve been excellent. They would have been around £250 from the high street.

RugnirViking 8y ago
Do you think perhaps you could link to a site you have good experience with? I would love to get some backup pairs but I worry about the cost
- Symbiote 8y ago
  I've used https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/ https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/ . The prescription was wrong, so they gave me a massive headache, but an optician measured the glasses and said they were made exactly to the incorrect prescription. (The second optician was helpful, so I bought glasses from her. I'll use Glasses Direct for sunglasses and so on.)
  - amygdyl 8y ago
    Is there any source of information about the variability of eye prescription measurement? Anecdotally, my my op seems to be compensated by dehydration and I haven't had any inclination to drink alcohol in many years, beyond a novelty (good) beer (ale) and I still notice when tired and poorly hydrated. I searched for the services that I have learned somehow will measure individual and high accuracy prescriptions, for the custom Zeiss and Nikon lenses I found a few years ago in the catalogue websites and became obsessed with, due to the fact that I have been frustrated by astigmatism for all my life. And because I greatly prefer to wear over size frames, so I have as wide atc of corrected vision as I believe possible. The result is usually atrocious : pavements rear up and bite me, the distortion moves my measure by inches and I trip... But I eventually accommodate for the effect... I feel like this is a overhead I'd rather not task my brain with. Esssilor seems to hold a virtual monopoly... Nikon and Zeiss and Schneider exist, but in that order in very rapidly declining proportion. Corning, via Serengeti, also are worth noting. I have accustomed to the impression that you have to really know a great connection to even benefit from a reasonable selection of lenses. This is a atrocious state of any market in a free economy and democracy. Something has to be wrong. I naturally accept the fact that I may be wrong in my assumptions or understanding. But I don't seek answers for justification. I seek a solution. Frankly I'm prepared to back the first optometrist to propose to me any solution, part or whole, online, tech or steam powered, even retail. (at least serious feasibility, I'm negotiating for a lease easily, specifically in fact for double duty as, a smart central London showroom) I remember Harrods would furnish one with the Zeiss individual custom lenses. The Nikon optometrist was a North London address. I found just the two possibilities, one of each brand. We all absorb vastly greater optical information than the majority of the working population, so why is the whole subject not done and dusted long ago? We also always (we being everyone in the online fora I've encountered over the years) obsess about the budget options, whilst we are probably better off paying more attention to the cost and quality of the frames we wear, which are incredibly unpredictable in my experience of three decades of paying the same amount regardless, year in year out... Only drugs are maintained in such orderly and unchanged nominal prices. (which keeps me thinking that the market is controlled). At least, I have reglazed far fewer frames than I now think reasonable for the expenditure involved in that component. (a recent,lost, Balmain frames, the brand recently resurrected, I thought, hopefully, would last for a few years longer than others I've tried. Previous beautiful hand finished in Japan acetate frames were to combust in a fireball, with the lightest touch by my soldering iron. Barton Perreira, the make. The nicest I've worn, pity the fireball only extinguished when the oxygen was depleted in my tiny workroom. 30s i think the contact lasted but only the first one most oblique, I should have thought about spray retardant as well as common sense) Our eyes are the most worked physical tools we possess and yet I am not convinced that the vast majority of us are truly concerned as much as we should be for their corrective care. Why is there nothing like a optician's mall / supermarket / showroom like you can browse just as you do along department store displays or supermarkets aisles? Every customer is a potential multiple sales repeat customer. I think people are as bad as we are with changing banks. It's too much unknown combined with a collision with ignorance in which manner we prefer not to learn too much. A good optician, selling a £300/$500 spectacle frame, ought to be presenting a smorgasbord of benefits and features. I've not once been actively sold anything by a opticians rep. I have definitely felt a bit like I was imposing, the times I have been insistent about perusing a catalogue. I mean the catalogue intended for the retailer, not the customer. Sometimes it is the same, but when not, you can avail your selection process with so much better information, ime. This should be all laid out, on lecturns, in front of the displays. Heck, I have not even seen consideration for good quality illumination or any realistically presented mirrors, like you are used to at home. The experience is a disorientating penance. I want to challenge the notion, furthermore, that the budget market is in any way divorced from the high end and boutique /deluxe sales. Everyone I know who is willing to spend the sums demanded by the "top" brands, buys multiple pairs of sensible and affordable spectacles, often simultaneously. Nobody who has a selection of designer frames ever rushes out with the nearest to hand. That's what your sensible ones are for. In every room and the bathroom (different coatings for the condensation!) So much difficulty presents to anyone seeking quality budget spectacles, the chances are that retailing the "low end" will attract the highest spending clientele. Retail locations can decide the potential. Retail experience can secure the loyalty that consistent upselling requires. Imagine I created my perfect optician store. Why is it again that I have never been actively sold to even by the optician where I once loyally purchased over priced eyewear? Again, I have time suspect the market is rigged. Only rigged markets can't offer any more commission opportunities by which a business can compete. (this is the fate of the print publishing sector i founded my company to challenge. The result is countless publications without any sales force. I wish I was kidding. Gear for the sell side trader, right? Nah. Rigged by the buy side. By immutable commission levels. The result is a degrading torpor, where once a vibrant industry linked professionals and sectors and provided affordable effective advertising for specialist firms. My third assault on this travesty is imminent..I am on the first break /sabattical I have allowed myself a since '96, looking for hedges to leverage advertising efficiency in goods and products and possibly services. Print is not a restriction on the media planning for the leverage to be applied.) Who would not peruse a comprehensive store of spectacled, even for the visual sensory enjoyment, if you only had a neat way to weigh your choices and feel your ultimate decision is better informed as the result? (I genuinely want a online shopping tool I can trust to contain my personal data safely. Bing is not quite enough, but I never imagined that I'd champion Microsoft for protecting my rights, even relatively so.) I trained to be a salesman, to counter my introversion when I was first in work. This led to my founding my company, because I couldn't avoid the inverse correlation between salesmanship and analytical skills. My media sector was suppressed despite resistance from the most incredible sales talents I knew in my formative years. I can't believe that you'd need much to suppress the kind of sales talents in my local optician... Anti know what you can model, from a range of measurements from a prescription to the shape of your head, to extrapolate the kind of pre sales metrics and assurance that buyers will actually want to make use of? If so, what if I worked out how to provide the rest of the components necessary to trade in earnest? I'm not actually pitching anything like this now, but I am convinced that someone needs to think not too dissimilarity from my line of questioning. If you perchance, however, have been intrigued by the force of the problem pressing on the bridge of your nose, i certainly will be delighted to show you how the rest of my thinking goes, because what I have been really doing for the past year, is pursuing a idea of a hacker space for bricks and mortar retail. With real real estate retail experimental opportunity. The press will not be quiet about the death of the high street. I'm convinced that the problems lies with the way retail is done. And ZIRP or NIRP on the market for premises. But I have a replicable hack for the real estate situation and believe that hack can sustain the kind of entrepreneurial hacker space I really want to create. The kind that turns tinkering into technology, teaching, and time tested traditional trading. (or, if my late confounder could chime in, I am trying to make the customers I need to sell my discount advertising to, if I'm selling any.. There's truth in my channeling that there. At least for case studies I can analyse the heck out of. Otherwise impossible in the real world, and highly valuable potential data for econometrics to support the lobbying I see necessary to awake the market I grew up trying to enliven ..)

enraged_camel 8y ago

>>Please stop using the US as the "that's how it is"-standard. The US is the standard for the overwhelming majority of things that are commonly discussed day-to-day on this site. I'm not sure why anyone would take issue with this, other than having had their pride scratched.

kkarakk 8y ago
Russia set the standard in interfering in the US elections and therefore the world...

pkaye 8y ago

Does that include the high-index material? Anti-scratch coating? Frames that don't look pathetic? Progressive lenses? Those are the things that really bring up the costs in the US.

evarady 8y ago
At Topology Eyewear, we DON'T charge extra for super-high index (1.74) lenses, and all lenses come equipped with the best anti-reflective AND superhydrophobic coating. Because one shouldn't be forced to cut corners to deliver the best and most comfortable vision possible. Happy to answer any questions. Check it out at http://www.topologyeyewear.com http://www.topologyeyewear.com
- jenna_talia 8y ago
  please review the HN guidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Dont spam HN with ads or comments that have no intellectual interest and no substantiative content
- pkaye 8y ago
  How do you customize nose fit? Sounds interesting but I don't know how a picture would be enough to determine the nose contour?
  - evarady 8y ago
    we build a 3D model of your entire face, including your nose. We then 5-axis CNC the shape of your nose into the frame, creating completely custom nosepads. We also use the unique location of each of your ears to craft unique left and right temples arms, each with custom length and drop angles to match the asymmetric location of each ear (everyone has a bit of asymmetry in their face). We also customize the temple arm angles based on the base curve (front curvature) of your ultimate Rx lens, so it all fits together as a system and will never stretch out over time. It fits perfect out-of-the-box, with no adjustments required.
- 8y ago

yitchelle 8y ago

Which German company are you using for your glasses? My wifes' glasses cost 750€ about 12 months ago. Nothing special in her prescriptions, except perhaps that she needed prisms. The German glasses shop also have a bad habit of keeping the perscriptions after they have tested your eyes and not giving you a copy. Very frustrating!

lovetox 8y ago
Em just tell them to make a copy and don't give the original to them? Its your property.

billfruit 8y ago

True, the kind of US centrism is quite boring, and kinds of gives the impression of Americans as insular. In India one could get a fancy, top of line pair of glasses for around 50$.

a11595 8y ago
One thing you learn (in middle school) in the US, is prices in capitalism are dictated by supply and demand. Now, let's take your number. $50 for a pair of glasses. Average income in India is Literally 10 times less vs US. I'll give you some time to do math. Did they teach you multiplication in your school in India?

juiyout 8y ago

I echo your view. Here in Taiwan we have wide selection albeit non-branded frame plus prescription lens from about 20USD. I personally went with ic Berlin + Zeiss lens which was a lot more expensive. Still no where near the article’s USD800 example.

hieloz 8y ago
It's affordable for most of us to spend 20 bucks to buy a pair of glasses,but some glasses brand such as Baodao（formosa-optical）, it sells glasses too expensive,maybe we have to pay a few hundred dollars for a pair in mainland China.

erklik 8y ago

Unfortunately, its rather similar in Australia. Got a recent quote for a pair of glasses to be at $1000.

pandapower2 8y ago
I feel like something has changed in Australia. I've worn glasses a long time and remember them always costing a few hundred dollars per pair. A few months ago I went into Specsavers and was able to buy glasses for under $50 per pair. My prescription hasn't changed but the prices definitely have.
- amygdyl 8y ago
  $50 - - $1000 is some range.. Is the $50 for off the shelf long sight and the thousand dollars for a myopic wearer, with high refractive index aspherics, advanced coatings, and a fashionable marque of manufacture? I have become familiar with such deltas as I qualified, in the UK. Edit to add : I dare imagine, without basis in learning, it is possible that the future will be printed fresnel lenses. I decided to reprise my photography hobby thanks to the fresnel telephotos recently sold by Nikon. But I also imagine that, once sufficiently good inexpensive printed optics become available, the possibility for multi element corrective eyewear, will be a new market entirely. Even projected reality , without any augmentation, would attract me right now. Ag least in the design of my minds eye.

arendtio 8y ago

IMHO, the prices vary extremely but if you want to get just a basic pair of glasses, you can get away with a very cheap. I don't wear glasses myself, but last August I accompanied someone to get a pair of new glasses from Fielmann (Wikipedia: 'Fielmann is market leader in Germany and Europe's largest optician'). In the end, one glasses cost 18€ (special deal) and the other one about 57€ (sunglasses, special frame). Given the 2+ hours, we stayed at that shop (sales talk + eye testing + frame adjustments) it was probably a net loss for the company on that day. I know other people who got their glasses for about 700€ from the same shop (more expensive frame + more features (e.g. thinner lenses)). So it might be that the market situation is kinda bad and is getting abused. Nevertheless, I have the anecdotal evidence that if you are just after a vision correction (and not some fashion accessory), you don't have to pay a fortune (in Germany). This might be helpful to keep in mind when you are after your next glasses.