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How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all

• nerdponx 8y ago
  In 1995, Luxottica purchased LensCrafters’ parent company, U.S. Shoe Corp., for $1.4 billion. The goal wasn’t to get into the shoe business. It was to take control of LensCrafters’ hundreds of stores nationwide. Dahan said things went downhill for him after that. Luxottica increasingly emphasized its own frames over those of outside suppliers, he said, and Custom Optical’s sales plunged. Dahan was forced to close his business in 2001. Funny that Microsoft was under the gun for antitrust violations while this was happening apparently unabated.
• walrus01 8y ago
  Without even opening the article I can predict that it informs everyone of what a behemoth Luxoticca is. As a person with a nearsightedness measurement greater than -5.5, it's something I had to educate myself on. Costco optical is a decent option for retail sales.
  • elektor 8y ago
    Do you need a Costco membership to buy glasses from them?
    • berbec 8y ago
      Even buying a Costco membership for the sole purpose of buying glasses will likely save you money vs LensCrafters or independent eyewear stores. My dad's last two pair of glasses (reading & normal) cost him $2100. That's criminal
    • ceejayoz 8y ago
      Yes. https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8290/~/do-i-need-a-membership-to-purchase-glasses-or-contacts%3F https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8... That said, you don't to see their optometrists, if you want a cheap prescription to go use online.
  • deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
• monksy 8y ago
  This is one of those things that you can buy online and for a lot cheaper. It always amazes me about how much we are charged for things in the west and that when you go to Asia it's soo much cheaper. (Clothing is another example.. when you're looking at a starting price of 150baht for shorts.. [$3.2 before negotiating] )
• bonestamp2 8y ago
  My last pair of designer frames with lenses from LensCrafters: $350, similar pair from my optometrist: $750, similar pair (but not designer frames) from an online retailer: $50.
  • monksy 8y ago
    They're still making a profit off of it.
    • SquirrelOnFire 8y ago
      Sure. You want businesses you deal with to make profit, otherwise they won't be around to do business with in the future. In industrial supply chain, if you have two suppliers who are each charging the same price and you know that one is making higher profit margins, go with the one with higher margins - they're more likely to be stable.
      • monksy 8y ago
        Meant to say, they're still making an extremely good profit off of it.
      • dingaling 8y ago
        Some profit is useful for saving as a cushion. But in general remember that profit is money that the business literally didn't find a way to spend, to the extent that they're willing to throw away 20% of it as tax. I'd rather deal with a company that ploughs surplus back into salaries or R&D or even charity than squandering it as profit.
        • SquirrelOnFire 8y ago
          Agreed, but on a transaction level having higher profit MARGINS is what enables the company to have money to plow back into the business.
    • tomcam 8y ago
• hourislate 8y ago
  For the last couple of years I have transitioned to Parker Warby and Costco's Kirkland Brand for reading glasses. As a tip for Americans, when traveling to Europe make sure you go shopping for Frames. You will get them for 1/4 - 1/3 the cost of US prices and have a selection 10 times as large.
  • SquirrelOnFire 8y ago
    I'll have to keep an eye out, thanks!
    • findjashua 8y ago
      I see what you did there
• jasode 8y ago
  I was able to slash my eyeglasses expenditures in both the exams and the frames: eye exams: I used to pay the optometrist $153 ($117 refraction + $36 dilation). I later found out that Costco often has an optometrist on site in a tiny office and will charge just $59 (and add +$20 for dilation). That's less than half the cost of most other optometrists. frames: switched to Zenni online to avoid the LensCrafters/Pearle/Eyemasters and their heavy markups. Yes, some people don't like ordering online frames because they can't "try them on". If that's a deal breaker, consider going to Costco and see if you like any of their frames. Costco's total price will be about half of the dedicated eyewear chains. If you can't find anything among Costco's selection of frames, I'm afraid you'll be stuck with the Luxoticca monopoly and pay high prices. I know some folks recommend Warby Parker but last time I checked, they cost more than Costco.
  • beering 8y ago
    I ended up with Warby Parker after decent experiences with Zenni. Warby Parker offers a home try-on service for free, where they ship you a pack of frames for you to try on (without prescription lenses). They also have a few retail stores. They still came out to be cheaper than Luxottica, and for something that I use for years, it ended up being worth it.
    • spyspy 8y ago
      I've also had good experiences with WP and have referred several friends to them when they mentioned needing new glasses.
    • tylermac1 8y ago
      I wore the same pair of Warby Parker glasses daily for 6 years before my son broke them. They are very good for the price.
    • Someone1234 8y ago
      > Warby Parker offers a home try-on service for free, where they ship you a pack of frames for you to try on (without prescription lenses). That's a really fantastic idea. Honestly that's a "missing piece" with a lot of online shopping (glasses, clothing, etc) or anything else you wear on your body.
• eterm 8y ago
  "Fashion accessory prices don't reflect supply cost" is hardly news or something to "gratify one's intellectual curiosity" as per the site guidelines. If you buy a fashion brand of glasses frames then you're no more or less getting "ripped off" than you are when buying a Gucci hoodie. Sure, all the brands are owned by the same company, but that affects a lot of things not just eyewear.
  • noja 8y ago
    > then you're no more or less getting "ripped off" You are being ripped off. Look at how much of the industry they own. The only reason this hasn't been acted on yet is because people see their various brands as being separate.
    • chrisseaton 8y ago
      I don't even know what 'ripped off' means? Does it mean if you chose to buy their product you'll have to pay more than you'd happen to like to pay for it? There no oracle that can give us one true price, and anything above that is a 'rip off.'
      • noja 8y ago
        It means not buying from a market with sufficient competition.
        • chrisseaton 8y ago
          But there is sufficient competition - you can buy no-name glasses for a few dollars. You can’t buy these specific luxury fashion brands of glasses cheaply but that just means you don’t think the name is worth it. It’s not a ‘rip off’.
          • tk75x 8y ago
            It's a ripoff because the price to quality ratio of the luxury brands are much higher than the budget brands which provide the same functionality and style as the luxury brands the only difference being there is no logo stamped on the side. EDIT: regarding the top comment of this thread, I see and agree with the argument that if you are aware and able to get a cheaper option, then you are not being "ripped off" but just making a bad financial decision of your own accord.
• dr_ 8y ago
  Why would Versace, Chanel, Burberry etc which are considered luxury brands, all of the sudden sell discounted frames? They have extensive markups on all of their clothing, handbags etc. They are targeting a different, and I would imagine dwindling, market. There are plenty of options online and offline for cheaper frames.
• sergers 8y ago
  I have a friend who runs a chain of prescription eye glass stores. For the generics/non name brand, he only spends a few dollars a frame with the lens costing more. And then marks them up to $200-300
• elliekelly 8y ago
  I use every chance I get to tell people about ZenniOptical.com because they are so great. A full pair of glasses (yes, frames and lenses) start at $6.95 total. Even with some upgrades for scratch resistance & to prevent glare I don't think I've spent more than $50 on a pair of glasses since I found Zenni. There's also the added bonus of the expensive glasses/sunglasses paradox: the more money I spend on glasses & sunglasses the more prone I seem to breaking or misplacing them. Needless to say at $7/pair I've got quite the collection of Zenni frames going since I've yet to lose a set.
  • ourmandave 8y ago
    I recently bought a couple pairs from Zenni and couldn't be happier. Just the lens were $55, probably because of progressives, but that's still way less than anything I've paid before.
• forthispurpose 8y ago
  What are some good online companies that are fighting this status quo?
  • beering 8y ago
    Zenni is the main online company in the US selling eyeglasses for actually reasonably prices. Downside is that you don't get to try them on before you buy them, and I'm not a huge fan of their styles.
    • billfruit 8y ago
      In India there is Lenskart, who even have physical stores where you can try out frames, and then they ship the glasses to you. Last time I tried I got two numbers of specs, with the top of the line optics available with them for something like 65$.
    • superkuh 8y ago
      Zenni is great for frames. But if your eyesight is seriously bad (ie, -10 diopter) you're much better off getting lenses put into Zenni frames at a local optometrist. Zenni doesn't do things like lens edge bevel which becomes necessary once your eyeglasses are 1cm+ thick at the edges. And no, high index of refraction lenses like Zenni pushes just makes things worse. High index lenses all have very low abbe number and their chromatic abberation is so bad at high diopter that I can even read the license plates of cars in the lane next to me while wearing them. They're only good for vision straight ahead.
  • mthoms 8y ago
    Clearly.ca in Canada is doing a decent job. They have quite a few in-house brands and stock store fronts in major metro areas for trying on frames.
    • Scoundreller 8y ago
      They’re owned by Essilor. TBD what the merger with Luxxotica will mean. My guess is that the online model will replace the costly in-store model, capturing more profit.
• bluedino 8y ago
  I'm not sure if America's Best is part of Luxxotica (I heard they were owned by Walmart but I never checked) $59.99 glasses turn into $349. Special exams, coatings, plastic lenses, 'Contact lens' fees, 'Contact lens club', scammers just waiting to prey on people that walk in.
• abruzzi 8y ago
  I've always followed the normal route--I have employer provided vision insurance, I would get myself tested every two years by a optometrist that my insurance covered, and I would buy glass using the prescription from the optometrist or a glasses store supported by my insurance. I don't have anything special in my glasses--single focal, no tinting or light sensitivity, and my glasses weren't remotely stylish, and I'd pay ~$50-70 after insurance. I recently lost my glasses in a pond filled with alligators, so I wasn't going to try to retrieve them. I figured I needed cheap glasses until my insurance would cover me again. I had an old prescription but it was over a year old. I looked at Warby Parker, but they seem to require an actual prescription. So I tried Zenni Optical because all they need are the correction figures for each lens, they don't require an actual doctor signed document. Something I've always felt was weird--its not like prescription drugs, and I can decide if the glasses don't work, and a 18 month old prescription is better than no glasses. So $35 shipped for glasses and frames, and they had a lot that were cheaper. The seem to be very good quality, they seem to work better than lost pair (the prescription didn't have a pupillary distance, so I had to measure it. My eyes are pretty wide, and a lot of lenses can't accommodate my PD, so I wonder if the optometrist just figured close enough for lenses with a lower max PD.) Before this I had no idea how much markup was in the cost of a pair of glasses. Now I'll still get my eyes checked locally, but $30 glasses is better than what I can get locally even after my insurance.
  • Animats 8y ago
    Here's a useful program someone in the HN/YC universe could write - something that uses your computer or phone camera to measure your interpupillary distance. This is a bit tricky to do yourself with a ruler and a mirror. Just have the user take a selfie while holding some object of known dimensions on their forehead. Like a dollar bill. Find the eyes and pupils (OpenCV can do that), find the reference object, calculate. Then take a picture of the prescription, OCR to the numbers (which will need a really good OCR program given the handwriting of many ophthalmologists), confirm the data with the user, and take the order for new glasses. Composite a selfie with pictures of glasses so you can see them on your face. Order from China, deliver via E-Packet, profit. Who needs Luxotica?
    • 8y ago
• GenerocUsername 8y ago
  I just recently (2 weeks ago) made my first online purchase of prescription glasses. I entered my measurements and prescription from a 2 year-old check-up and got 2 pairs of glasses for < $50 and they are PERFECT. Honestly NEVER buying glasses from any optometrist or even costco again. Also, not an ad, just a recommendation, but checkout eyebuydirect.com
• throwaway-1283 8y ago
  I'm a big fan of Jins (https://www.jins.com/us/ https://www.jins.com/us/) in SF. They make your glasses on-site in ~30m. Price (lens + frame) is comparable to Warby Parker.
  • ojilles 8y ago
    Me too, ran into them by accident basically. Was so cheap, bought three pairs in one go -- and ready inside the hour. Averaged out to $100 or so.
  • kalleboo 8y ago
    I live in Japan where they originate from and they have stores all over the country. All my glasses have been from them, zero complaints, super cheap, good service too (you can drop in to any of their stores whenever to get things adjusted, lost nosepads replaced, etc for free which is hard to do with an online vendor)
• jowdones 8y ago
  An optician mentors an apprentice on how to sell glasses. "You look in client's eyes and say 'That'll be 100 bucks'." "If he doesn't blink you continue '... for the eye frame. The glasses will cost another hundred bucks'" "If you see that he still doesn't panic, you conclude: '... a piece'".
  • yread 8y ago
    And that's why it's important to deliver the quote in person
• jerf 8y ago
  It's articles like this that make me wonder how much of our middle class burden comes from hidden rent seeking parasites like this. I honestly don't know. I'm not trying to imply any particular thing. I honestly wonder. These sorts of things can stack up through the layers of companies that make things. And where does this money go? What does it end up doing?
  • mbell 8y ago
    I worked at a sunglass hut part time during college. The _vast_ majority of sunglasses I sold were for fashion, not function. People weren't paying $250 for the lens, they are paying $240 for the style and 'real' D&G logo and $10 for the lens. In my time there I would say the only brands you should buy for performance are Maui-Jim (great lens / polarization) or Oakley (impact safety), everything else is junk lens put into fashion frames, including Ray-Ban, though their glass lens were at least passable. EDIT - I mean amongst the brands they carried, I'm sure there are other good lens manufacturers out there. What I'm mostly saying is that I don't see this as rent seeking, it's just people willing to spend large amounts of money for fashion.
    • perfmode 8y ago
      are prescription lenses not priced along the lines of the fashion lines?
      • dustindiamond 8y ago
        It is just the frames, the lenses cost additional.
      • mbell 8y ago
        I don't know as much about that side of things but as I recall Luxottica didn't make the prescription lens, they were ordered to spec from a third party. They sold and manufactured the frames and did the fitting work (which does some times require significant work on the lens like reshaping or drilling holes). This was ~10 years ago though so that may have changed.
• JustSomeNobody 8y ago
  I worked in the industry until a little over a decade ago, putting myself through an engineering degree. The company I started with was bought by LensCrafters, but before it was we pretty much knew the wholesale prices on everything. After LC, LC just distributed stock to us so we didn't follow pricing. I was always amazed at the markup. A pair of Sola lens blanks for FT28 bifocals was about $3.50. A typical name brand frame out of the Frames catalog was less than $10.00 (ie: Perry Ellis). Dies for UV and tint were several dollars a bottle and would last a few days to a week depending on sales volume. Basically one tint and uv job would pay for most of the dies and UV. Now, most of those places were in malls, so the rent there is astronomical, that's one thing to consider. I wouldn't say people are getting "ripped off", but there's definitely quite a bit of markup. A single vision pair with an Rx such that I could use finished lenses, I could edge, uv, light tint and assemble in about 10 - 15 minutes. You'd be paying a couple hundred for that (depending on brand), but I could do it while you wait. And if I did it, you'd be happy (no scratches, gaps, etc). I always take pride in what I do (even now with coding). So, what's the convenience worth? Depends on you I guess.
  • mindslight 8y ago
    Do you have any recollection what the blanks for higher index materials cost? Zenni's fancier materials are completely lackluster (Abbe wise), and I'm curious if that's because the proprietary high index materials are really so expensive that it would be out of their market, or if Luxottica's anticompetitive behavior extends deep into the supply chain as well.
    • JustSomeNobody 8y ago
      They weren’t that much more. In the $5 - $10 range for most, but I don’t recall specifics. We did so many FT28 CR39 lenses at that time that’s why I recalled those easily. There were some progressives that cost us over a hundred but that included lab work as they wouldn’t let us process them. Edit: I wanna re emphasize that all this was prior to LC (US Shoe bought us then Lux bought US Shoe actually) buying us. I don’t know what prices did after that.
• RosanaAnaDana 8y ago
  How reasonable would it be to the prescription process; for example, a kiosk in the mall where I sit in a booth and click (better/worse) while looking into some-kind of a vision testing device. The whole thing is so procedural and really, not very difficult to administer. It seems like extremely low hanging fruit for automation.
  • mrob 8y ago
    Optimizing for just "better or worse" will result in excessively strong correction. If you're only looking at a single letter in the very center of your field of vision, then overcorrection feels sharper and easier to focus on. You don't notice the additional optical artifacts everywhere else. The ideal glasses have just barely enough correction. However, this isn't an argument against automation, because human optometrists frequently get it wrong too. I agree that it should be automated.
    • RosanaAnaDana 8y ago
      I've just always found myself frustrated by the sense that beyond looking into my eyes for signs of disease, the actual act of making a prescription could be done by anyone with an afternoon of training; yet I have to make an appointment and drop 100-200$ for something that is, on occasion, less effort than getting an order correct at chipotle.
      • ojilles 8y ago
        In other countries the exams are totally free (basically because of the reasons you mention).
  • gergles 8y ago
    You can actually get a remarkably accurate prescription with no feedback at all.[1] You've almost certainly done this before as part of an eye exam. (Look in this machine at the balloon.) The refraction portion of the eye exam is the least important one for medical reasons and the one that people think has the highest stakes (getting the right glasses.) The other parts of the eye exam (pressure testing, retinoscopy, etc.) are worth far more to your overall health. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorefractor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorefractor
• caymanjim 8y ago
  Lens Crafters charges a huge markup if you want their lenses put into your own frames. It's almost cheaper to buy new frames from them (and in the case of particularly-expensive lenses, it is in fact cheaper to buy new frames). That's clearly a scam. Warby Parker sells glasses at more reasonable prices, but their frames are god-awful hideous tortoiseshell plastic abominations. If you want nice metal frames, they have a small selection, and the prices aren't that great. I normally buy two pairs of glasses at once (one for distance, one computer-specific). I'll probably soon start buying a third pair, progressive bifocals. I'm now wondering at what point it will literally be cheaper to fly overseas to get them made. I may in fact have already crossed that line. The only reason I ever use Lens Crafters is when I need glasses same-day due to an emergency. Just last month, I broke my glasses a few days before an extended overseas trip. If I hadn't been going to the Cayman Islands (where everything is more expensive), I'd have waited until arrival to get them made. It's unfortunate that most optometrists have a two-week turnaround on new glasses. For all I know, they're going through the same Luxottica monopoly too, but at least I avoid Lens Crafters. Their quality is absolute shit; poorly-ground lenses, shitty coatings that scratch easily and bubble up. It's probably intentional, so that you're forced to return less than a year later for new glasses. I've heard good things about Costco, but I don't have access to one.
  • galangalalgol 8y ago
    The reason WP has the tortise she'll is they are both cheaper and in style. Metal is for old people or so my spouse tell me.
  • walterbell 8y ago
    EyeglassLensDirect will put lenses into your frames.
  • 1996 8y ago
    > one for distance, one computer-specific How do you find the correction for the computer specific glass? I have a pair for distance but it is a horror to use with computers.
    • 8y ago
• resters 8y ago
  I just bought a pair of glasses from the local optometrist. Lenses and frames came to $650. It turns out the eye exam was done so hastily that I ended up with the wrong prescription. So when I went to a different place to have the exam redone I decided to try some discount glasses. I found a pair for $27 with free lenses. I sprung for the $12 expedited shipping and have been very pleased. The online store I used was GlassesUSA.com, which I believe ships directly from Thailand.
• glitchc 8y ago
  I respectfully must disagree with all of the claims here regarding zenni and costco, unpopular as it may be. They are only comparable at the low end but have no matching product at the high end. I bought a pair of glasses at costco for $200 as a backup to my daily rimless wearers. First, costco and zenni don’t have any rimless options. Second, the lenses I did buy ( partial frame) were their lightest but still significantly heavier than what I replaced. Third, the lenses just didn’t have the same clarity and sharpness as my oakleys. They just don’t offer the same quality coatings and I paid for their best. After a couple of months, I caved and went back to lenscrafters for a replacement. My new Ray Bans, although expensive, are like night and day compared to Costco. Light as a feather, outstanding clarity and sharpness, extremely scratch resistant, on the whole simply remarkable to wear. Side by side comparison, exact same prescription, there’s no contest. None. Luxottica may be overcharging, but truth is the discount brands do not carry a comparable product. Certainly you can save money at those places, but the product isn’t the same. In some sense you are getting what you pay for. You can get even better lenses from Zeiss and Nikon if you go beyond Lenscrafters, but I haven’t walked that path yet as it’s a bit beyond my budget (read: insurance), although I’ve heard excellent things. Edit: Grammar.
  • iknowordidthat 8y ago
    Zenni has rimless glasses for years.
  • igouy 8y ago
    > … and zenni don’t have any rimless options. Categorical and plain wrong — https://www.zennioptical.com/b/rimless-glasses https://www.zennioptical.com/b/rimless-glasses
  • mrfredward 8y ago
    >my budget (read: insurance) I wonder to what extent the presence of insurance in the mix has made things worse. Markets never work particularly well when the entity paying and the entity choosing the product aren't the same. Textbooks (vs normal books) come to mind as an obvious example of this.
    • 8y ago
• ams6110 8y ago
  I think a big part of this is, like health care, insurance hiding the true cost from consumers. I have a vision plan as a benefit from my job. Covers exams and eyeware, so I have never paid more than a small co-pay for glasses and I had no idea what the cost was behind the scenes. The insurers don't care as they just pass the cost along to the employers who pay for the policies. The employers don't know any better. This is a case of market pressure on prices being totally eliminated by layers of bureaucracy and obfuscation.
  • Someone1234 8y ago
    It is worth noting that the same company selling you glasses also owns most Vision Insurance plans. The plans only cover their vendors.
    • zymhan 8y ago
      And that company is EyeMed. Your Vision insurance is almost certainly through them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica
      • zippergz 8y ago
        I don't know the numbers, but for my entire working life across several companies, my insurance has been through VSP, not EyeMed. So "almost certainly" seems like an overstatement.
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• pedasmith 8y ago
  I dipped my toe into the "online glasses" market -- and let me say it's a game-changer. The eyeglass store wanted about $300 per frame, meaning that I'd grudgingly get one pair. The online purchase was only $75 for high-end frames and coatings, plus $27 for three pairs of prescription "computer monitor" glasses (one for the office, one for the home office, one for the other home office!). And by having more pairs, I can bring a pair on trips, just in case the main ones get broken! (Personally, I've also never had any useful help in picking out frames. I'm not very fashion conscious, and every time the help doesn't seem to want to actually help be find frames that would look good on my face)
  • 1996 8y ago
    > $27 for three pairs of prescription "computer monitor" glasses You are the second person to mention "computer monitor" glasses so I wonder, are they the same correction as your normal glasses? I am new to wearing glasses. I have a pair I use outside, they make everything crystal clear. I love them!! But for computers they are a pain after while, so I don't use them. As other people mention costs, I paid about $30 total for the eye exam + frame + both lenses + next day delivery (not in the US). Now I am in the US for a while, so I can't ask for "computer monitor" glasses, but with my correction information I could try to order some from zenni or eyebuydirect.
    • junaru 8y ago
      Guessing "computer glasses" means that they have a blue light filter. The filter doesn't cost much extra and really helps.
      • 1996 8y ago
        Just got a reply- it's not. It has a different focal length, so you can relax your eyes when working on a computer screen.
  • koverda 8y ago
    Where did you buy the high end frames online?
• mLuby 8y ago
  Money quote: >“Federal officials fell asleep at the wheel,” Dahan said. “They should never have allowed all these companies to roll into one. It destroyed competition.” Butler said it should be clear from EssilorLuxottica’s practices that the company has too much market power. “If that’s not a monopoly,” he said, “I don’t know what is.” Where's the public outrage? Maybe because they're foreign companies? Maybe because the price crept up slowly over time? Maybe because glasses are tied to the medical industry where consumers have come to accept absurd prices? :( Worth noting there's always some markup for brick-and-mortar locations, and for something people like to try on before buying that's (was) a big deal.
• walterbell 8y ago
  Eyebuydirect is notable because: - US based - Small premium over Hong Kong (Zenni) - Essilor lenses (similar to LensCrafters) - Wide frame selection, some are clones of designer frames which cost 20x - 2 week refund/replace for any reason - No prescription needed Their human customer service seems to be in Malaysia, so CS interactions via voice or email can take a few iterations, but are usually resolved within a few days.
  • mikecarlton 8y ago
    I’ll second the recommendation for EyeBuyDirect. Great quality and great prices. My last pair of glasses was <$60 and are the best pair I’ve ever owned.
  • Scoundreller 8y ago
    They are a subsidiary of Essilor. Will be interesting to see what the effects of the merger with Luxxottica will be. I feel like the frames were more of the cost than the lenses.
• ericmcer 8y ago
  Can anyone speak to why you need an up to date prescription to buy glasses or contacts? It has never made an ounce of sense to me, yet I have been blocked from doing it in the past, gone through the rigamarole to find out my prescription is unchanged, and then bought them.
  • umvi 8y ago
    The party line is: "to check your eyes for disease" If you reply: "People that don't need glasses don't get their eyes checked every 2 years for disease" The party line will be: "People that don't need glasses are at lower risk for eye disease" I just got a physical copy of my prescription and uploaded it to my google drive. It's 5 years expired, but I still see 20/20 and use it to purchase new frames online.
  • Retric 8y ago
    In a word corruption. Building a machine to automate an eye exam seems obvious. But, the industry pushes back vs anything that would lower costs.
  • ukyrgf 8y ago
    You can walk into Walmart right now and buy reading glasses over the counter. I can type in random numbers on a dozen sites and get glasses made to spec. Contact lenses are regulated by the FDA.
• aj7 8y ago
  1. Have your opthalmologist do your refraction. He’ll charge you extra usually. 2. Walmart. Excellent quality and workflow.
• kmm 8y ago
  I understand how branding and marketing could drive the price of frames up, but I've never understood why the lenses themselves are so expensive. The tolerances are not very high, and there must be a massive economy of scale. The article itself states that they can be made for a buck and a half. Who manufactures those, is there a similar situation as with Luxottica? Why is that market not being disrupted?
• umvi 8y ago
  Seems like the majority of optometrists could be replaced by photo booth-esque optometry machines. Simply sit in a booth, look through some eye ports, and the machine will automatically start cycling through lenses and making you choose between 1, 2, or equal. At the end it spits out your prescription for a nominal fee. For an extra fee you could have additional eye imagery taken by the machine sent off to a remote optometry lab for analysis. I've never been to optometry school, but 10/10 times I've gone to get a new prescription, the prescription process has been extremely algorithmic, to the point where I wonder if cartel-esque forces are preventing automated optometry machines.
  • city41 8y ago
    I consider my vision important enough to get a human opinion on it. Even if a machine can do it correctly 99% of the time, having someone experienced there to confirm the choices is worth it.
    • smileysteve 8y ago
      Even if the human has been encouraged to lie, cheat, and steal from you?
      • wycy 8y ago
        Optometry, particularly w/ re: prescriptions, seems like the one field of healthcare where patients can be reasonably informed. You can generally tell instantly if a prescription is right for you, and I wouldn't think there's any incentive for an optometrist to lie about your Rx.
    • illegalsmile 8y ago
      Agreed but I could seeing going to an optometrist every 5 years for a comprehensive exam while using a machine every year between doctors visits.
  • greedo 8y ago
    My optometrist has a machine that automatically generates your prescription. They do some cross-checking with the old fashioned "which looks clearer, this one or this?" lens machine too, but just out of caution.
• whizzkid 8y ago
  I think Luxottica CEO himself explained the whole situation in 1 second 7 years ago, and it is spot on (Not saying it is how it should be). Listen for yourself. https://youtu.be/VxPLGPO2q3E?t=749 https://youtu.be/VxPLGPO2q3E?t=749
  • nerdponx 8y ago
    Everything is worth what people are ready to pay
  • astura 8y ago
    For those that can't do audio right now: "everything is worth what people are ready to pay"
  • dredmorbius 8y ago
    And if there's no competition, whether that's manifestly apparent or not, what they're forced to pay (for the benefit of sight) is whatever he's willing to charge.
• brandonmenc 8y ago
  I've been purchasing back-up glasses for nearly 20 years at places like Lens Crafters and have never spent over $50 for such a pair - granted, they're dorky safety frames and no fancy lens coatings, but still. Cheap glasses have always been available, if you don't want fashionable frames. Also, please don't skip an actual yearly eye exam, for your health.
• rhinoceraptor 8y ago
  A tip for anyone measuring their own PD in the mirror, shine a bright light in your eyes so your pupils constrict. That will make finding the center a bit easier.
• asdfk-12 8y ago
  you should petition your local DMV to procure military surplus lens grinding machines - voila, the $12 pair of BCGs on demand
• webwanderings 8y ago
  We were in one of the South Asian country not too long ago (family of four). Bought 2 pairs of glasses each, everything you name it, is included. Cost? <$50 for all. It would have cost us at least $1000 in US. And you cannot tell we wear cheap glasses. They are perfectly fine. Of course they are not original Ray Ban but who cares as long as prescription is right. The eyewear industry in US is totally out of control.
• natroniks 8y ago
  eyebuydirect.com
• phkahler 8y ago
  I've often wondered if there is any reason at all to allow companies to own/buy/merge other companies. I have not found one.
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• advertising 8y ago
  Have bought only retro super future for this very reason
• ourmandave 8y ago
  Since this thread is about eyewear, I just wanted to mention you can donate eyeglasses, reading, and sunglasses to the Lions Club Intl. https://lionsclubs.org/en/resources-for-members/resource-center/eyeglass-recycling-centers https://lionsclubs.org/en/resources-for-members/resource-cen...
  • dredmorbius 8y ago
    That's of very limited use: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2012-05-03/recycling-eyeglasses-is-a-feel-good-waste-of-money https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2012-05-03/recycl...
• tasty_freeze 8y ago
  I don't get it. I just tried a few online "cheap glasses" places. I want single vision, prescription (relatively low strength, nothing exotic), polarized sunglasses. Fashion doesn't really matter, it is just for driving. zenni: $25 frames, cheapest polarization option: $67.89 eyebuydirect.com: $42 frames (malibu), plus polarization: $92 39dollarglasses.com: $39 frames (houston), cheapest polarization option +69, total $108 (more if I want anti-glare) While these prices are better than my optometrist, where are people finding these "I got three pairs of prescription sunglasses for $50" stories?
  • deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
• anewguy9000 8y ago
  wait we should be paying costs and not a markup? thats communism
• chown 8y ago
  Recently, I was telling a friend how ridiculously cheap it is to buy a pair of glasses overseas. I paid about $22 for the pair I'm wearing. I went to make an extra pair recently (a backup pair, just in case). They quoted me about $450, which they agreed, was of lesser quality than the one I was wearing. Blew my mind! I then decided to just get it shipped from the same place I got my first pair. They couldn't ship it so my sister has to do it. Ended up costing me about $40 with shipping.
• joyeuse6701 8y ago
  If Luxottica is a as big a player as they say, shouldn't some anti-trust laws come into play?
• kleiba 8y ago
  I noted that if you wear designer glasses, there’s a very good chance you’re wearing Luxottica frames. This may be true for the big name brands, but there are also a number of smaller independent companies that innovate with new designs and/or materials. For instance, the German designers "Meyer Eyewear" (www.meyer-eyewear.com) started about 10 years ago with a collection made of buffalo and reindeer horn. Now they moved on to ultra-light titanium frames. And that's just one example. Like in many fields, there is a mass market and then there are niche areas where more exotic (and perhaps more exciting) developments are dwelling.
• kashyapc 8y ago
  Hmm. Five months ago I spent about 230€ prescription glasses -- as a 40-hour "screen starer", I went for a reasonably good quality French vendor ("Studio FB", and the glasses themselves from Ziess). I shelled out that much as I wear glasses every waking hour and didn't wanted some crap quality glasses / frame. I really like them so far. They better last really long.
• wickedOne 8y ago
  i've got a strong impression this article is about sunglasses rather than eyewear in general. "Armani, Brooks Brothers, [ ... ], Vogue and Versace" neither of them, as far as i know, make decent "regular" glasses. i've been wearing glasses for the last 42 years and apart from when you're a kid (because you break more shit than your parents would like to admit) you don't need (nor want) a different frame each year; it's not a fashion thing, it's something you actually need to function. with that in mind: you don't go to a pearl store to get measurements for your eyes, at least not if you want them to be accurate. so yeah, Luxottica might be behind a lot of "fashion based" eyeware, but hey who's running the show for sneakers or training suits other than nike and adidas? i mean, this is nothing new and if you want to be trendy it's going to cost you. meanwhile i think i spent ~€1000 on frames and lenses the last 15 year whilst wearing silhouette. so, at least for me, it's not as bad as the article makes it out to be
• m3kw9 8y ago
  Just need @AOC or @realdonaldtrump to do a little tweet and the DOJ will get on it.
• coldtea 8y ago
  Adam Ruins Everything - The Conspiracy Behind Your Glasses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAeHuDcy_bY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAeHuDcy_bY
• fishywang 8y ago
  For the recent years I stopped paying for vision insurance, and just pay out of pocket at Jins when I need new pairs. They have a brick and mortar near me (San Jose CA), and also do prescription sunglasses. When I had vision insurance I feel obliged to get new pairs every year (covered by insurance), and also often pay a fair amount out of pocket because at most shops that accept the insurance the strictly under the coverage pairs are usually ugly or in shitty quality, or both. Jins lenses and frames are actually in good quality and durable.
• xfitm3 8y ago
  Similarly: screen your optician by what eyewear brands they carry. I saw a “independent” for years that carried small brands and I felt the doctors philosophy was better aligned with patient care vs sales.
• mikevp 8y ago
  People who buy hoity-toity "designer fashion" items are paying for those D&G or whatever letters on the item. I find it impossible to work up any sympathy. I get Flexon frames. Actually, I haven't bought frames in years. I just have them put new lenses in the "time before last" frames. So, maybe Flexon has inflated in price, too, in the past few years. But the fact that I'm still happily wearing Flexon frames from years ago, and they still look just fine, and are still comfortable, means it doesn't affect me. They do gouge for some of the stuff I get on the lenses; anti-glare, scratch resistant, progressive multifocal. I could cheap out on some of this, but this, at least, is functional, not "Oh, look how kuuuul I am, my glasses have a "D&G" on them!" crap.
• arthurofbabylon 8y ago
  “Tell all”? That wasn’t very much.
• dang 8y ago
  Other threads on what has turned out to be a perennial topic: 2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18980191 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18980191 2018: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17061380 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17061380 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15736573 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15736573 2016: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13091936 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13091936 2015: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9183464 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9183464 2013: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6718224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6718224
• chewyland 8y ago
  I bought two pairs of prescription glasses including frames and nice little cases + one them was photocromatic. The total cost was 47$ for both. This was in Sofia.
• GuillaumeBrdet 8y ago
  The answer my girlfriend has taken, get a good insurance. $250 pair for $35. Done.