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ResMed and Luxottica are like that. Luxottica is a straight up abusive monopoly - they actually sell the insurance that they themselves take! ResMed simply has
by ars 3y ago
ResMed and Luxottica are like that. Luxottica is a straight up abusive monopoly - they actually sell the insurance that they themselves take!
ResMed simply has better technology than others, and is a de-facto monopoly.
- deepsun 3y agoYes, but there's also a problem is customers really believe it's worth paying $300 for the simplest type of near-vision glasses in 2023. And they're ready to pay for that, so why not take their money?
- Firmwarrior 3y agoIt's so nuts that Facebook was able to put a computer and cameras into sunglasses without increasing the price Prescription glasses are basically just chunks of not-too-special plastic that you can buy online for $20 or less, but people refuse to believe that the whole industry is a scam when I try to tell them about it
- NavinF 3y agoThat's because those $20 glasses are objectively worse than $200 Costco glasses. You might not think that the latter is worth the increased price, but for the vast majority of Americans it is. Btw Zeiss (known to HNers for making EUV lithography hardware) also makes glasses and you can buy them online. Some of their lenses are $700. Not worth it for me, but I can definitely see how someone would be willing to pay even more for those optical specs
- throwmeout123 3y agoI have zeiss lenses on my glasses, they’re terrible. Full of scratches in 1.5 years. Worst money I’ve ever spent, my last no name €80 lenses went for years without a single scratch! Anecdata obviously
- NavinF 3y agoWhat model? High index or polycarbonate?
- throwmeout123 3y agoI have no idea, but i can copy some data from the package: One is SV AS +2.5 sphere 0 cyl duravision platinum uv 1.60 index (guess this is what you’re talking about) uvprotect The other is the same but 1.25 sphere Hope it helps
- zx8080 3y agoThey probably did not come with scratches, did they? Don't scratch them. It's simple as that. Wash lens with soap. It's as simple as that.
- Dylan16807 3y agoWhat, do you think they scratched them on purpose? Avoiding scratching for thousands of hours isn't actually simple, and if some brand is less scratchable then that's a real benefit.
- jjgreen 3y agoOr get glasses made with ... glass?
- Firmwarrior 3y agoI've been wearing nothing but Zenni glasses for a decade, and they've been excellent the whole time You can choose the material you put into them. Ray-Ban Scamglasses from the Scam Shop are definitely NOT better. Even Costco glasses aren't better.
- deepsun 3y agoI bought mine for $50 years ago and they are perfect. "Objectively" better I would say.
- Xamayon 3y agoThe $30-50 zenni glasses/lenses in my experience are actually substantially clearer than the (absolute ripoff) $400-500 rayban ones. Same prescription, and the zenni ones even arrived quicker! Frame consistency is a bit of an issue though, I bought a few more cheap pairs with the 'same' frame a few years later and they changed the design subtly which made them fit worse.
- dharmab 3y agoZenni's men's glasses are much higher quality than any of the expensive glasses I've tried. I don't know if it's different for women's glasses.
- nostromo 3y agoIt's because of insurance. Anything insurance touches becomes expensive, because insured individuals are no longer price sensitive, so there is no incentive to lower costs by providers. My employer pays for my vision insurance, whether I want it or not, so I may as well maximize the benefit with the "best" hardware I can get for "free."
- lotsofpulp 3y agoYour employer offers it, and you use it, because the government specifically carved out a tax exemption for it. Without the tax benefit, there would not be much reason for an employer to provide you vision insurance rather than the equivalent cash.
- deepsun 3y agoI set up the vision health plan for my company, and you can certainly waive that (and save some out-of-pocket $$ as well, as employer cannot pay 100% of the insurance, ot at least I couldn't find a 100% option). And buy the glasses at Zenni et al.
- waynesonfire 3y agoWhat about thr crop insurance program?
- pyuser583 3y agoThe $20 glasses increase in price sharply when you add vague “nice-to-haves” like blue light filtering. Likewise, store bought lenses are available with $20 out of pocket expenses.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago> Luxottica is a straight up abusive monopoly - they actually sell the insurance that they themselves take! What is wrong with this? Apple does it, lots of managed healthcare organizations like Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealth and CVS do it, auto manufacturers do it, etc.
- ars 3y agoIt's not actually insurance, it's a payment plan. Insurance is meant to cover unexpected events, with this you pay a monthly fee for "insurance" which gives you the right to buy the glasses later for a normal price. The other companies you mention are actual insurance: They cover rare, and unexpected events. As opposed to covering once every two year glasses, on a schedule.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoThen what is wrong with a business offering a payment plan?
- ars 3y agoBecause you end up paying around 50 times as much as what the glasses actually cost. But because of how they do it they hide that. $40/month for 2 years = $960 "for insurance" which gives you the right to buy glasses worth around $20 or so. All the number are inflated leaving people with the impression that glasses cost $400 - they don't.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoSo now we are talking about profit margins being bad? We have the internet now, with plenty of other vendors willing to sell eyeglass frames and lenses for cheaper.
- Dylan16807 3y agoProfit margins that make a price more than double are pretty bad, yeah. High profit margins are also bad when it's something people need. The competition isn't working right, for a variety of reasons, and so the mere existence of competition does not make those problems disappear.