10 ms·
Why are glasses so expensive? (2012)
- pbreit 12y agoWhy is anything so expensive?
- shillster 12y agoInelastic good, supply controlled by cartel.
- carsongross 12y agoBut, given the traditional understanding of markets, one wonders how the cartel (really, this appears to be more of a monopoly) is able to sustain itself. There does not appear to be very high barriers to entry, and with obvious online sales channels available... This seems like a great industry to disrupt.
- shillster 12y agoWhat about buying out the competition? The "consolidation" in the industry is what has led to a decrease in competition.
- carsongross 12y agoSure, but the typical logic applies: margins get high enough and new competitors come in.
- bydo 12y agoIt's the vertical integration. There may be obvious online sales channels, but optical prescriptions are only available in person, and Luxottica has done an excellent job at making sure the most convenient optometrist is also an affiliate stocking their eyewear. They don't only own the Lens Crafters peddling Chanel and Prada frames, but also Sears and Target Optical selling "discount" versions with only slightly reduced margins. There's also a law requiring a prescription less than one year old to purchase eyeglasses or contact lenses, to send consumers back to the sales floor as often as possible. See above for people discussing how difficult it can be to even get a copy of your prescription to order online with, despite it being federally mandated.
- minthd 12y agoI don't know, you can buy glasses affordably, say at costco or online and maybe other places(not sure i'm out of the u.s.), and they'll look pretty good. If people "need" to have branded goods, let them pay.
- gertef 12y agoVeblen good. glasses are cheap at the drugstore.
- drivingmenuts 12y agoReading that just pissed me off to no end. Eyeglasses are not a luxury for me - they're an absolute necessity. I kind of feel like I'm being preyed upon here by a bunch of Italian ripoff artists.
- voodoomagicman 12y agocheck out zennioptical.com, you can find frames with lenses included for 10-30 dollars.
- drcode 12y agoOne pair I got at zenni for $6.96 is the best pair of prescription glasses I've ever owned... it's inconceivable to me how it can be that cheap.
- coldpie 12y agoMmmh, you can get a brand new tiny pile of high-end electronics, including a touch screen, for $50-100. Stamping out some metal and putting some glass into it seems like something that should be around the $10 price point.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- 0003 12y agoSecond this. I bought a 30-40 USD prescription lenses that has gotten me more compliments than my 200 pairs ever did. Plus there is no gaudy brand name / logo on them - it is exactly the style that fits me.
- mng2 12y agoI've been buying my glasses from Zenni for a couple years now. I'm rather nearsighted (-7), with astigmatism, so I was pleasantly surprised that the optical quality is pretty good. The frames are somewhat less consistent though, I imagine they have multiple suppliers. The part I like best about Zenni is the oleophobic hard AR coating option. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and actually lasts a fairly long time without scratching. (If you wear glasses you know that no matter how carefully you clean your glasses, they scratch. And the expensive coatings flake off.) Now I clean my glasses with soap and warm water in the morning, and the water just shakes off at the end. The anti-reflective aspect is somewhat lacking, but the ease of cleaning is what makes it for me.
- zomg 12y agomonopoly!
- shaunrussell 12y agoI've been buying my glasses at a certain website that is very cheap and has great promo codes. All you have to know is your prescription. They are sort of cheap feeling, but they work and have stylish shapes. Also can buy 4 pairs for less than half of what I'd pay at LenseCrafters.
- shillster 12y agoWhat was your experience like getting your prescription details from LensCrafters? I've heard they don't like give up the details to allow customers to easily work with a competitor.
- warkdarrior 12y agoGo to a real optometrist instead.
- magicalist 12y agoThey can be a total pain about it, but remember (in the US at least), you are guaranteed access to your prescription: > Your eye care provider must give you a copy of your contact lens and eyeglass prescriptions — whether or not you ask for them. http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0116-prescriptions-eye-glasses-and-contact-lenses http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0116-prescriptions-eye-...
- bbatchelder 12y agoI just got an eye exam at a LensCrafters a week and a half ago. I received my prescription from the optometrist without asking. The only thing missing is the pupillary distance measurement. There is not even a place for it on the prescription form I received. I didn't know it was something I'd need until reading this thread and checking out zennioptical.com. I will be calling them tomorrow to get that.
- Yhippa 12y agoWhat is the website if you don't mind me asking?
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- jared314 12y agoSingle material. Customized for each client. This looks like a good place for 3D printing to start chipping away at traditional manufacturing. [Edit] I am talking specifically about printing the overpriced frames sold by Luxottica. Not the lenses.
- mcmancini 12y agoWhat part are you proposing to be 3d printed?
- jared314 12y agoThe metal frames.
- gertef 12y agoand what would you put in those frames?
- mcmancini 12y agoI'm not understanding how 3d printing the frames would reduce costs over traditional manufacturing methods.
- jared314 12y agoFrom the article: Consumers do not get a break. At LensCrafters, the average cost for a pair of frames and lenses is about $300. You may think -- well, there's choice in the mall for other glasses. But Luxottica doesn't only own the top eyewear chain in the country, it owns another large chain: Pearle Vision, and Oliver Peoples, and several boutique chains. And it runs Target Optical and Sears Optical. And we're not done, Luxottica also owns Sunglass Hut - the largest sunglass chain in the world. The cost of frames is not based on the cost of traditional manufacturing. Luxottica controls the market, like De Beers and the diamond market.
- mcmancini 12y ago
- carsongross 12y agoWhat would be interesting to me is an in-depth look at how this company is able to sustain its near monopoly on the business. They do not appear to be leaning on government intervention, and the product can be delivered via e-commerce (zappos, etc.) so they can't control the sales channel that much. The product is not that complicated to manufacture, has huge and recurring volume and, as of right now, preposterous margins. Are they that good at taking advantage of positional goods and marketing? Are they litigious? Do they use kickbacks effectively? Are they buying out competition, and, if so, how are they doing it and why is new competition not emerging? A situation like this appears to be a complete affront to nearly any economic model I can think of, and demands attention. Additionally, we in the startup community should all be sitting around and thinking: "Wait, high margins, simple product and I can sell it online... Wait, what?"
- jbert 12y agoPeople want to try on several pairs of glasses and see which ones they look best in. So if you control the retail chain, you've got the monopoly. They said their competition was walmart. And that they bought Oakley after refusing to stock their product.
- josu 12y agoI think that it has more to do with "which ones they look best in". Luxotica, somehow, seems to decide which ones look best.
- yincrash 12y agoI use 39dollar, but I think Warby Parker has done the best job at stealing marketshare away from the monopoly. The startups are out there, and they are working. It just takes time to tear away from status quo.
- memset 12y agoI spent a few years in the eyewear industry. Offhand, it seems like this stuff isn't that difficult to make. After all, it's just frames made out of plastic, right? But it is at this point we get a glimpse into what it takes to manufacture products. The basic design of glasses - like any accessory - is a skill in itself! We look at the shape, the materials, used, the colors, the hinges, the nose-pads, and the aesthetic of frames. Many of us can look at a pair of glasses and "know" that they are styled for men or women, and different frame shapes and colors are better suited for different face shapes and skin tones. This is all to say that, even before we start manufacturing, one has to find talent who understands all of these aspects of accessory design in order to produce a great product. Parallels to software engineering suggest themselves. When it comes to manufacturing, most all of it is done outside the US in China. Physical manufacturing is difficult. There is a years-long iterative process of choosing materials, manufacturing samples, working with the vendors, and ensuring quality. Maybe you are importing acetate from another country. Oh, and it is February - you planned for Chinese New Year, right? Import these frames into the US and let them sit in customs for a month. Etc. Physical manufacturing is hard. What if you're making eyewear for another brand? Now you have to design things which are consistent with that brand's aesthetic. Then you have to find an optical lab to fulfill prescriptions. A lab which is reliable, does not ship products with scratches on lenses, and has strong inventory controls. Optical labs, incidentally, are really expensive operations to run because the machinery is so specialized. And then there is the shipping, logistics, and customer service pipeline. At a unit level, it is true that glasses are pretty cheap to make. In that sense, because it is easy to get into the market - which is relatively unregulated compared to, say, payment processing - you deal with a lot of unscrupulous businesses and middlemen trying to peddle bad-quality goods. Eyewear may have recurring customers, but perhaps not so much brand loyalty. Many customers want to physically try on frames before buying, which increases customer acquisition costs (either via home-try-on programs or physical showrooms.) Companies like Luxottica, I have heard, sell their eyewear to mom-and-pop optometrists and use sales data to figure out the size of the market. Then they plop down with a Lens Crafters. This is all to say... it is a difficult business, there are many competitors, it is hard to wade through the crap, it is hard to find good talent, and things like aesthetics and brand recognition are important - and take time to develop. Not as easy as it seems!
- withdavidli 12y agoI remember watching the 60 minute video of the Luxottica interview. That guy was so gangster in his responses. "The perception of choice", just outright said it. I've been buying my glasses online for the last 2 years now. 39dollar and Coastal. Quality control for the frames aren't as good, but they work. On average I pay ~40 vs 200+.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- stephengillie 12y agoThis page doesn't work for me on Android. I can't actually see any content, just a CBS splash page with a download link.
- jasode 12y agoBoth the eye exam and the glasses can be optimized to save a lot of money. For 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 $50 (and add +$20 for dilation). That's less than half the cost of most other optometrists. A bonus is that the tiny Costco office has no frames so there's no sales pressure to guide you towards his limited selection of frames. Therefore, he always just prints out your Rx and gives it to you without any dirty looks. Costco (the warehouse) has frames but you have to walk next door into the main retail floor to try them. The optometrist has no idea whether you buy glasses from them. You don't need to be a Costco member to use the optometrist at Costco. For lenses, I used to always pay ~$400 for 2 pairs of glasses. For Eyemasters, Lenscrafters, Visionworks, etc, it didn't matter if they had "2-for-1 sale on lenses" or "2nd pair frames free". The total (when including desirable features such as AR coatings, etc) always came to ~$200 for each pair. I've come to believe the sales promotions at eyewear chains are as meaningless as the "sales" at mattress stores. Now, I buy from zennioptical.com. Each pair is always less than $35. That's even cheaper than Costco and Walmart. I think my recommendation won't work for people who are very sensitive to fashion and want to try all the stylish frames at their fingertips. (Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, etc.) At my age, eyeglasses are just functional things and I'm fine with picking out a no-name classic style from zenni.
- gertef 12y agoI tried zenni and I didn't like the way the glasses affected my vision. Since it's mail order, I felt stuck. As a new glasses-wearer, I don't know if zenni gave me bad glasses, I told them the wrong interpupillary distance, or I got a bad prescription from my doctor, or I just have confoundingly weird eyes.
- shonn 12y agoTry adjusting the angle of the lenses with respect to each other, more -- instead of /\. A few that I got had a strong angle but were much better after I flattened them out. Of course it could be other things like getting astigmatism wrong but it's a quick thing to try out.
- rayiner 12y agoGlasses aren't expensive. I keep $10 polarized sunglasses in my car (because you never lose the cheap ones).
- hafichuk 12y agoI assume this article is interesting because it tells you to "disable ad-blocker" :) -pass
- jkot 12y agoIf you are willing to pay... I get eye test and new lenses every year, and pay around 80 euro for both. New frame is around 70 euro.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- ngokevin 12y agoZenni Optical, frames start at 6.95 including prescription lenses. They handle all their manufacturing and supply chain internally which is how their get their price point low.
- niche 12y agoRead: "The Art of Seeing" by Huxley
- bluedino 12y agoHaving worn thick glasses since I was a young kid, I spent a ton of time at the eye doctor. Getting your glasses from an independent doctors office was insanely expensive. It always seemed like a scam. Cheaper at the places in the mall, but still could be hundreds of dollars. I've seen the ads for $9 glasses online but good luck with the fit (they have directions to follow to measure yourself) but you're going to still want to see a doctor to have them checked and all. Best case, poor fitting glasses are going to give you a wicked headache. I'm not sure what the long-term damage to your eyes could be.
- Consultant32452 12y agoI bought my "every day" glasses from a "legitimate store." In my case it was an eye doctor in my local Costco. Then I used all the measurements and information from my prescription to order some $15 prescription sunglasses from a cheapo online vendor. The fit was pretty good, but the tint was really lame and "cheap" looking. Fine for my purposes since I rare need sunglasses and I'm not particularly fashion sensitive, but I wouldn't have wanted to wear them all the time. You may infer here that I would've been fairly pleased with my cheapo lenses if I hadn't gotten them tinted. They'd have been an amazing deal for $15.
- kazinator 12y agoI got my last two pairs of glasses at JINS in Japan. (Station mall at Nagareyama-Ootakanomori.) 8000 yen, ready in 30 minutes. (Bells and whistles will cost extra: like thinner lenses, etc. and some things have to be special ordered.) Stylish, durable, perfect. I can get a free cleaning and new nose pads at any JINS outlet. Did that twice already with the current pair.
- johntaitorg 12y agoI went to a place in Kyoto and had a very similar experience. Same day, cheap, great quality... Japanese consumers don't put up with any shit.
- kevin_thibedeau 12y agoThe bigger question is why are contact lenses so expensive? The molds are undoubtedly costly but once made they can pump out millions of lenses and it's not significantly more complicated than plastic eyeglass lenses that require more material and have to be cut to the final shape of the frames. Of course the answer is that employer subsidized insurance has created in industry that can engage in predatory pricing when the bulk of the customers aren't directly paying out of their wallet.
- mlrtime 12y agoI've been using daysoft.com without issues. You should still go in for eye exams to make sure your eyes are staying healthy.
- droithomme 12y agoSome glasses are expensive because it's what people are willing to pay. I get high quality glasses with contemporary styled frames at WalMart for next to nothing. Not only that but the WalMart optometrist is more competent and does a better job getting my prescription right than the private optometrist I used to see. It's not as if WalMart is some exclusive club only available to the elite. Anyone who wishes to do so may shop there and purchase their glasses. They also have a very nice warranty. One pair got run over by a lawnmower, which was entirely my fault. Free replacement. It is a choice to pay $400 or more for the same glasses you can get for $60. And as long as people are willing to pay $400, why not charge them that. Good for the price gougers. They only exist because people prefer to go to price gougers, since there is definitely not a quality improvement. Customers are simply paying more because that's what they want to do.
- Roodgorf 12y agoWalMart seems to be often cited as the biggest competitor in this market, but I don't find it very compelling as an alternative. I know many people who do not shop at WalMart for numerous reasons, e.g. their labor practices[1]. The fact that giant, monopolistic corporations like Luxottica and WalMart seem to be the most viable option for something essential to many people is not particularly comforting. [1]http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/11/18/walmart-store-holding-thanksgiving-charity-food-drive-for-its-own-employees/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/11/18/walmart-sto...
- josu 12y ago>Some glasses are expensive because it's what people are willing to pay. That's a truism. The question is why are people willing to pay that much? Why hasn't cheaper competition gained a bigger market share?
- Raphmedia 12y agoIt's health. People are willing to pay half a million for tiger bones in order to cure "diseases". You can't go around selling tiger bones for $2, they would obliviously not work. Same thing for glasses. Same thing for walking canes.
- myopticalshop 12y agoNot so expensive here: myopticalshop.com You can get rimless glasses for $50 and high-index (1.71) lenses with frames for $200.
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoI endorse zennioptical.com I got my glasses for $28 including shipping. Better than what I get at a chain optometrist (probably where they go to order them). They've got 10's of thousands of frames; all the lens options; bifocals or trifocals and so on. Costs more for fancier options.
- johntaitorg 12y agoGet your Japanese wife to take your prescription to Japan and get good glasses for <£100 (<$100). That's what I do.
- xerophyte12932 12y ago$100? Try Pakistan, good glasses for $40 (includes prescription lenses)
- fl0wenol 12y agoGet your designer eyewear or sunglasses from a competitor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safilo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safilo) It's not really any cheaper, but at least you can go with the "underdog", as it were.
- cridenour 12y agoThere is at least one startup doing some innovation - Frameri. https://frameri.com/ https://frameri.com/
- xerophyte12932 12y agoIsn't this mostly an American problem? I live in Pakistan and have never worn a pair worth more than $30 (and that includes the price for the lenses).