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How Badly Are We Being Ripped Off On Eyewear? Former Industry Execs Tell All (latimes.com)
LA Times reports: Charles Dahan knows from firsthand experience how badly people get ripped off when buying eyeglasses. He was once one of the leading suppliers of frames to LensCrafters, before the company was purchased by optical behemoth Luxottica. He also built machines that improved the lens-manufacturing process. In other words, Dahan, 70, knows the eyewear business from start to finish. And he doesn't like what's happened. "There is no competition in the industry, not anymore," he told me. "Luxottica bought everyone. They set whatever prices they please."
Both Butler and Dahan (former executives with LensCrafters) acknowledged what most consumers have long suspected: that the prices we pay for eyewear in no way reflect the actual cost of making frames and lenses. When he was in the business, in the 1980s and '90s, Dahan said it cost him between $10 and $16 to manufacture a pair of quality plastic or metal frames. Lenses, he said, might cost about $5 a pair to produce. With fancy coatings, that could boost the price all the way to $15.
He said LensCrafters would turn around and charge $99 for completed glasses that cost $20 or $30 to make -- and this was well below what many independent opticians charged. Nowadays, he said, those same glasses at LensCrafters might cost hundreds of dollars. Butler said he recently visited factories in China where many glasses for the U.S. market are manufactured. Improved technology has made prices even lower than what Dahan recalled. "You can get amazingly good frames, with a Warby Parker level of quality, for $4 to $8," Butler said. "For $15, you can get designer-quality frames, like what you'd get from Prada."
Both Butler and Dahan (former executives with LensCrafters) acknowledged what most consumers have long suspected: that the prices we pay for eyewear in no way reflect the actual cost of making frames and lenses. When he was in the business, in the 1980s and '90s, Dahan said it cost him between $10 and $16 to manufacture a pair of quality plastic or metal frames. Lenses, he said, might cost about $5 a pair to produce. With fancy coatings, that could boost the price all the way to $15.
He said LensCrafters would turn around and charge $99 for completed glasses that cost $20 or $30 to make -- and this was well below what many independent opticians charged. Nowadays, he said, those same glasses at LensCrafters might cost hundreds of dollars. Butler said he recently visited factories in China where many glasses for the U.S. market are manufactured. Improved technology has made prices even lower than what Dahan recalled. "You can get amazingly good frames, with a Warby Parker level of quality, for $4 to $8," Butler said. "For $15, you can get designer-quality frames, like what you'd get from Prada."
LASIK is down to about $200 per eye, if you can afford a pair of glasses, you could probably afford to never buy them again.
The last time I got new astigmatic contacts, I discovered their focal length was further out than my arms could hold something I was trying to read. The brilliant solution of my optometrist was to try to sell me reading glasses...
Not affiliated, but I can get my lenses and frames from Zenni for about $30 a piece and I have terrible eyesight. They aren't ready in an hour like at LensCrafters et al but at those prices I just buy 3 or 4 in case I break a pair and have a pair always with me. It's still cheaper than the $200+ for a single pair.
Whats new here?
While I agree with this I will point out that depending on your vision the service you get in getting the glasses rightly fitted is the hard part that may be worth paying for. FOr simple single vision lenses that's only weakly important. But for bifocals and even more critically progressives, the fitting is everything. I usually have to get two and sometimes 3 sets of glasses made before I'm happy. I've done tests where I have my vision measures four times in a row. They never agree. But some optics shops have a little leeway on progressives to tilt the degree of maginification in the center one way or the other. And that really helps when they get it right. It sucks when they don't.
So I don't mind paying for the service even though I know the glasses are not worth the price in materials.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
TFS says:
Absent people who took no or a single econ class, why would anyone assume there is a relationship between cost to produce something and the cost we have to pay? Hell, Apple/Google get 30% of all app payments for credit card processing and hosting a static website. Corporate profits in general are at record highs.
And Luxottica is particularly horrible. They bought Oakley by refusing to stock them (they own LensCrafters, Pearl Vision, Sunglass Hut, Walmart Optical, Target Optical, and more). Then, when the stock cratered, they bought the company, started stocking it, and raked in the bucks.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses "2 Pairs Of Eyeglasses For $69.95".
most of the us health care system is an ripoff.
With
hidden fees
networks that are hard to stay 100% in.
any out of network person can drive by and bill you 100K with no control over stopping them.
each person can bill on there own.
if an place miss bills then you can be on the hook for the full rate
there are like 3-4 different rates for the same thing.
the mark up makes the apple app store look good
Last time I looked lasic didn't handle farsight.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
There's a joke about that in there somewhere... just can't put my finger on it right now.
Might be I finally need glasses...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
My last pair cost upwards of 800 bucks!
The prices touted as phenomenally expensive seem like a bargain to me.
Cohen's Optical exists in NY and surrounding area -- they do exam + glasses for $100 and have a decent range of frames for that price.
It's even cheaper to order directly from China, and I doubt that US Customs really gives a fuck about ordering Rx glasses without a prescription when they have bigger fish to fry...
https://hackernoon.com/how-to-...
There was a consumer test program done by our national television station, they tested various sunglasses and what got you the most for your money.
Interestingly enough, some of the fashion brands where actually protecting you less against the dangerous UV rays from the sun, than the 7$ dollar ones they got at our version of the dollar stores. So in fact, in this case - you where better off buying the off-brand rather than the mainstream fashion brands.
Kind of reminds of a certain PC vs Another brand war that still today is on-going, you purchase a lifestyle, the product, well ...comes second.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
Aliexpress: https://hackernoon.com/how-to-...
Two ways to do it:
(1) Develop a pain in your eye, have insurance pay for it as incidental to an optician's appointment.
(2) Get a coupon for somewhere like Cohen's (in NYC) that does it for $20. If the coupon is only valid once, you can keep coming back and paying cash -- not like they check ID...
And that is exactly why I don't go to the eye doctor as often as I should. The last time I went to the eye doctor (full exam) and got myself two new pair of matching glasses (primary / backup) ... I didn't walk out the door for under $1,000. That was a decade ago.
The only reason I went then was because at 40 something my eyes finally "froze" -- I couldn't focus on small print anymore. Expected and normal. Prior to that it was probably another decade (or two) since I'd been.
What a sham.
Seems like a common sense solution here.
This is the invisible hand of unregulated capitalism.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
With places like Zenni Optical (http://zennioptical.com) available, where a complete set of glasses with all kinds of coatings and options and extras comes out to under $50 US, why are people still buying at their optometrist's office?
There's several different places like Zenni online. Even with shipping and currency conversion, it's a lot less expensive to buy online than any eye wear places here in Canada.
And the quality is quite good, comparable to $200+ US frames and lenses. Even if the quality isn't as good as the uber-expensive ones, you can always just buy 2 or 3 pairs each year and still come out ahead. :D
The prices in the summary are why some of our family have started using https://www.zennioptical.com/ (no connection except as customer). One family member got very basic lenses & frames for $9 if memory serves (could be off but it wasn't even $40 with shipping), Mine were more but had more features. It was worth getting the account and submitting photos to "try on" glasses, but one order I placed would have been better if I had paid attention to the posted length of the temple and actual frame & lens dimensions: next one I did better and it is good now.
(My one complaint is that their customer service gave info that was overconfident -- they didn't really know. And their site EULA had terms I didn't like, and nobody was willing to discuss it, either at the posted contact info or the customer service. But the site FAQs etc were helpful for other things, and I was able to adjust frames myself, etc.)
A Free, fast personal organizer for touch typists: onemodel
I live in a country where the state subsidises pretty much every health issue. Except glass lenses and frames. You go and make a health insurance around here and guess what it doesn't include in all but the top-of-the-line plan: everything eye prosthetic-related. It is literally cheaper here to perform corrective eye surgery than to buy 2 or 3 pairs of glasses (if you do it through public health and wait around 8-20 months).
And it's getting worse. 3 years ago I paid 35 bucks for top of the line Zeiss lenses, 70 a pair. In the same shop last month, I refreshed my frames and was charged 75 for each lens, 150 total, only this time they were the second best model. Same brand too. And I consider myself "connected" with the clerks, as I've been going there for some time and allow some tax and insurance shenanigans we both take advantage off.
Something even fishier I've noticed, is that frames have gotten cheaper as a way to fool the customer. You can buy a cheaper frame while trying out stuff at the shop, but you're pretty much forced to pay whatever lenses they have around, because the shop knows what's "better". I rarely see anyone downplay the lenses they get in opticians - they will always follow the suggestion of the clerk. Then you end up paying as much or more for the lenses than the frames.
Zenni Optical are the way to go, especially if you have kids who break/lose them periodically.
http://www.zennioptical.com/
Base glasses cost $7-13. When looking, start with "View All [Men's|Women's] Glasses" and then sort by Price: Low to High. The add-ons are what get you, but at least you have choices. Too many places, like Costco, have a one-size-fits-all mentality to add-ons. Last time (6 months ago) will be the last time we shop that way.
I bought 3 pair of $7 for myself and my wife just to have in each vehicle and our travel bag. No frills, no add-ons, just base glasses that fit our faces and have our prescription. They're more than adequate, but at this point, other than trying them on, they're just sitting around "just in case".
Here in Europe and as soon as glasses varifocals, we're talking about four-digit EUR figures for ones with good lenses...
And yet, both the GOP and Libertarian party are opposed to reigning in corporations, much less abolishing them.
First of all, you can get glasses from (say) EyeBuyDirect for around $15-$20 on a good day, for normal single vision lenses. (Search for coupons first.)
Secondly, it's like any other product. There will be a range of prices, depending on all sorts of factors from designer names, to service, to whatever. ALL of which will above the cost of manufacture, since these are businesses and not charities.
60 bucks for a good eye exam is totally worth it and reasonable given all the costs associated with running an optometry office. You're actually taking up the time of employees. We're talking the cost of one at-release AAA video game. A lot of teens these days have tatoos they spent ten times as much on.
(BTW WRT TFA, getting curved wraparound prescription lenses is even more expensive. Even so I'm surprised more people don't because why the heck would you want frames or the edge of a lens in the way of your peripheral vision while driving?)
Someone had to do it.
Not necessarily.... https://www.nbcnews.com/news/a...
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
Yes, ditto on the PD measurement. I did find once that if I called the eye doctor back after the fact, the office could give it to me. And Zenni probably has some way you can measure it, on their web site, if you trust yourself that much to get it just right...
A Free, fast personal organizer for touch typists: onemodel
To begin with, this doesn't mean that Luxottica isn't doing bad things. It's just this bullshit line of reasoning makes me a bit crazy.
Cost to produce something and get it into the hands of consumers does not equal the Bill Of Materials (BOM) cost. There are a lot of other people involved in the supply chain that - shockingly enough - don't want to work for free. This includes:
1) The designers and engineers that create the product.
2) The manufacturers that pay everyone from the people actually making the product, their managers, administrative support, etc.
3) The distributors and their overhead (this reduces the exposure of retailers to carrying excess inventory)
4) The salespeople that help you select the frames, fit them, take measurements for where your eyes are relative to the frames (critical for making the lenses focus properly on your retinas), their management, administrative support, etc.
5) The capital involved in all of this - machines to make the eyewear and lenses, buildings people work in, retail space leased, their computers, furniture, etc., etc., etc.
In most cases, BOM is maybe 10%-15% of the price you pay because everything else costs money too. I don't see of this isn't fucking obvious, but apparently the world needs constant reminders because ZOMG CONSPIRACY!!!
Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
I did not see that coming.
Anyone with a few million in capital should be able to enter this market and make a killing.
Maybe there are some other factors involved, like our health care system out of whack with billions spent on who-knows-what while people needing basic care can't get any unless they spend what is equivalent to a mortgage payment. Seems like someone would provide something basic at a fraction of the cost.
mfwright@batnet.com
Enough glasses for me. Employer covering it, too.
Zap zap. Bionic upgrade time.
..don't panic
If the market is bearing that price, then that's a signal that society thinks eyeware is worth it.
Or it's being distorted by the state doing things like requiring people to have glasses to drive, then making >95% of the country require driving to live in.
Less stupid-libertarian, vision isn't exactly something people can just do without, which distorts market incentives. Further distorting the market is vision insurance programs that effectively disguise the price for the frames from the consumer.
Of course, if you think that price is too high, then that means there's a business opportunity—the market is telling you that society needs to enhance the supply of eyeware.
Only if you live in textbook land.
Out in the real world, monopolies defend their monopoly. So your new eyewear company would quickly find itself without suppliers or retailers, and quickly go bankrupt.
When there's a monopolist in the market, the market can not be efficient. That's the point of breaking up monopolies - so the market can be efficient again.
They also lie they cannot update the lenses in your current $400 frames even though the machines can run the inside of the frame for sizing.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I always suspected the 'prescription always changes' was a scam to make money. My prescription kept getting stronger over the years, so I decided to do an experiment. I stopped wearing them for 2 weeks prior to my checkup, and I changed doctors so they had no history. I telecommuted and I didn't need them for the computer, and my wife drove during this period when I needed to go somewhere. My prescription was 1/2 as strong as it was before, only 0.50 worse from when I first got glasses. Then I switched to CRT lenses, which also prevents them from testing your prescription strength because they can't tell what your natural eyesight is, they can only test whether you can see 20/20 (the correction wears off after 24-48 hours). You have to stop wearing them to get an accurate prescription. It's been 6 years, no prescription increases...in fact I still have the same lenses.
Anyone with a few million in capital should be able to enter this market and make a killing
Who's going to supply them and who's going to retail them? With the threat of Luxotica cutting that supplier/retailer off?
That's how Luxotica bought Oakley - they cut off their retailers and then bought up the company when the stock tanked.
I did what any sane person would.
I shopped around the outlets, tried on the frames and chose one.
I then went online and ordered it from overseas. You just enter in the numbers on your prescription and choose the frames.
I got the frame I wanted for half the price it would have cost locally. The lenses only cost $10 with anti-reflective coating and I got another spare set on cheap frames for another $10.
Please, tell me how to cure my astigmatism naturally.
Is there a natural way to reshape my cornea?
Given how big they are in other countries like Australia and many European countries, I am surprised that a giant like SpecSavers hasn't tried to come into the US market and complete.
If SpecSavers came into the US market with the same cheap glasses they offer here in Australia they could probably easily capture a huge market share.
People are posting that Lasik only rarely had adverse effects. Actually the rate of complications is very high. Below are a couple of excerpts from a recent NYTimes article:
"A recent clinical trial by the F.D.A. suggests that the complications experienced by Mr. Ramirez are not uncommon.
Nearly half of all people who had healthy eyes before Lasik developed visual aberrations for the first time after the procedure, the trial found. Nearly one-third developed dry eyes, a complication that can cause serious discomfort, for the first time."
and
"Yet few studies have followed patients for more than a few months or a year, and many are authored by surgeons with financial ties to manufacturers that make the lasers.
One such study, written by the global medical director for a large laser eye-surgery provider, reported high satisfaction rates among patients five years after Lasik.
But the study also found that even after all those years, nearly half had dry eyes at least some of the time. Twenty percent had painful or sore eyes, 40 percent were sensitive to light, and one-third had difficulty driving at night or doing work that required seeing well up close."
I was thinking about Lasik until I read this. No thanks.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/0...
Capitalism works great if it's heavily regulated. The businesses on the other hand benefit from being deregulated. Since they have the ability to make unlimited campaign donations... You can imagine how we ended up here.
violently imposed monopoly—and we call that organization "Government".
you can always go to Somalia as they have no government. As far as private companies go, how's that customer service line been so far?
mfwright@batnet.com
Take a ruler and look in a mirror. Or get your SO to measure it.
Amazon sells little plastic tools that are basically a specialized ruler for this measurement for around $12.
They tricked you into thinking the schedule they provide to you is something you "should" do, so they mostly won. If your eyes get worse and you need more services, they'll have you back on their schedule in no time.
My wife was been wearing thick glasses her whole life; she waits until she needs a new prescription to go to the eye doctor. Corrected vision isn't really a medical problem in most cases, it is more like buying shoes; you don't need a foot checkup, you just need a measurement.
Yeah, it's completely out of spec to stick the lens into your eye.
So don't do it.
Why? Do you have stories specifically about Zenni? I would expect that they, like everyone else, buy standard lens blanks and then trim them to fit the frames you choose. It seems very unlikely that a modern automated lens-trimming machine would be able to screw up "cut this shape out of a circle".
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
One, that's the judicial branch. Two, it looks like the merger will ultimately be permitted.
There are industries and fields where "you get what you pay for". But eyeglasses is not one of them. The price is driven by fashion and by monopolistic practices.
Ask any engineer to estimate the COGS (cost of goods) for the eyeglasses on your head. It works out to just a few dollars. Yet I've been unable to convince many people that the $20 Zenni Optical glasses are just as good as the $600 Gucci glasses at the local optometrist.
My best argument is that you should go buy both and see for yourself. Try the $8 glasses from Zenni, leave extra pairs in your car, at your office, etc.
It is true that you have to understand your pupil distance measurement and your temple length measurements, but it's not any harder than buying shoes or clothes online.
>curved wraparound prescription lenses is even more expensive
Is that even possible? I would think the optical challenges would be all but intractable. At best you could get curved wraparound non-prescription lenses that have a prescription lens carved into the front-facing portion.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
I suspect you're lying, as I know way too many people who actually want those damned ugly plastic frames.
Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained with bad taste.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
The worst that out of spec lenses can do to an adult is produce headache and/or eyestrain; no permanent eye damage.
https://mayoclinichealthsystem.org/locations/la-crosse/services-and-treatments/ophthalmology/myths-and-facts
I do not know who he or you are, but he is certainly right about Zenni.
I went to Lenscrafters a couple of years ago to burn up the remainder of an FSA on the last day of the year. They did that very well: two pairs at more than $300 per pair (low correction single vision reading and distance) using their $99 frames (the only cheaper frames they had were in their reject pile). This was on top of the $115 examination fee.
Engraved on the inside of the "temples" (the things that go from the lens frame to your ears): Made in China :-)
https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/09/05/were-nazis-socialists
Executive summary:
I ordered a pair of prescription glasses from clearly.ca for $40 CAD. They were delivered to my door the next day. Checking on their site right now, I see glasses for as low as $25 CAD.
You could have went down to the local drug store and got the same glasses off the shelf for $10. Even grocery stores sell reading glasses in various strengths for around $10.
I sprung for the $20 version the last time. They fold up into a little case that I can stick in my pocket.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
It's just the distance between the pupils in mm. No special ruler needed.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
You will find black markets in every communist country. My wife is from Poland, and she tell me that is where they got most everything they wanted.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
and maybe aspirin what good would knowing the price do you? Would you really be able to judge the relative merits of two pace makers? Or two antibiotics? Or the surgery done by two doctors at different hospitals? How about the same hospital?
This is why no other civilized country on Earth leaves paying for healthcare up to individuals or "insurance" companies (quotes because you buy insurance in case you need something, but in 2019 we all know damn well we need healthcare).
TL;DR; paying for healthcare is too complex and too essential to leave up to a free market. Doctors and Hospitals can be privately run, but insurance? No. Just no.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Yes, but Trump wants it blocked, too. Blocking a merger like that would have been very much a Democratic Party policy a decade ago. https://arstechnica.com/tech-p...
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
Sam Knight: The spectacular power of Big Lens — 10 May 2018; 8700 words
Overall, it's a good article, but I really hated a few bits:
Speak for yourself, numbnuts.
Speak for yourself, numbnuts.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. I guess this is one of those times.
There's no longer a lab in your local Lenscrafters - so "about an hour" is now "within 2 weeks". Actual turn-around is about 3 business days.
So Zenni's delay doesn't seem so bad anymore.
Yep :-)
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
a 70-year old thinks things are expensive. Big surprise. Also, a wholesaler thinks retail is expensive. Again, big surprise.
So I bought a fancy pair of fancy frameless frames and lenses. When it comes to eyeglasses, I probably bought the brand we all know to be considered the fanciest. I'm exceptionally happy with them. I've bought the same brand, for roughly the same dollar amount, three times in a row.
Basically, my entire adulthood, I've been buying the same shadowy brand. My prescription has changed those three times. I've kept going back.
At ~$650 CDN per pair, I'm paying roughly $1.50 per week of my life on glasses. On high-end glasses that make me comfortable. Right next to them were options for half the price.
Who's complaining that they bought, retail, $300 glasses that last for years?
Who's complaining about spending $2 bucks a week on defective eyes?
Do these people buy coffee? At coffee shops for $5 a cup, in k-cups for $1 a cup? I'd wager they aren't grinding their own beans for pennies a cup. I'm the only one who does that -- and my friends howl at me for doing so.
Perhaps these people buy bottled water for $2 a bottle, instead of $0.20 per metric tonne from the their own tap.
Oh wait, maybe they buy water pitchers with carbon filters in them, for about ten times the cost of fitting the exact same type of filter to their cold water line.
I spent $650 CDN on my glasses. I bought them retail. Conveniently. From someone who answered my questions on three separate visits for a total of almost three hours. Someone who let me try on a few dozen pairs. They were shipped across the ocean. They were stocked and cleaned and supported and guaranteed -- even if I just changed my mind about the coatings. And I could have chosen the cheaper brand.
I'm not complaining. Remind me, on my death-bed, to complain that over the course of 90 years, I spent $9'000 for perfect vision. Also remind me what I did for a living, and that I liked to look at stuff.
There are plenty of things to complain about. Nearly all of them are that people choose to spend money, when they have perfectly free alternatives. This is not one of them. Either of them.
I discovered this in the late 90's early 2000's when I got a replacement warranty set of Oakley lenses from their call in number. They owned a shit ton of brands even back then. I've since noped out of buying "expensive" brand frames for anything and stick with Walmart brand crap that has a polarized lens. If I lose them, so what? If they get scratched? So what? I bop in to the nearest Walmart and pick up yet another $15-20 pair and replace them in a year or so.
I need new glasses right now actually, I was able to pay for the office visit but the glasses cost $250.00. I can't afford it so I'm stuck with my old blurry glasses right now. I don't have a vehicle so I can't go out of town.
Thought about getting my prescription and having my friend in the Philippines get me a pair, for what he said was about $20 USD. I honestly can't see =(
This is not an advertisement, but you can buy a cheap pair of glasses from Goggles4U or some of the other manufacturers for pretty cheap. Like around $10 cheap with their specials. Buy a couple of pairs of glasses and stash them around where you need them. At $10 you don't care if they get broken or eaten by a puppy.
Make love, not reality television.
Yeah. My first pair of prescription glasses, were about $600, 25 years ago. I paid for progressive lenses (accommodation syndrome the diagnosis), flexible frames, optometrist's shop. That was a superb experience, and the next 3 pairs were at similar shops, but a variety of styles. Some were great, one pair had to go back and be redone, none were less than $600. After insurance it was still $400 out of pocket.
The last full price pair I bought, 4 years ago, were $845, the frames just $125, out of pocket about $500. These taught me a lot. First, they were enameled, allegedly, but actually painted. Paint failed. I made the mistake of researching this, and found these frames retailed online for $89, could be had off eBay for $60 or so. I don't begrudge my shop a profit, though. So I took it, but it taught me that even the best shop sells average or worse frames.
Oh, and his optometrist, independent contractor, found astigmatism, the first of 4 to find this in me. I'll actually be visiting an ophthalmologist this summer to get the second opinion, judge my cataracts, and generally double-check things. It's been at least 12 years since I was refracted by an MD.
And it taught me that there are online services. So I looked into one. My prescription did not include pupillary distance, so I asked and they provided it. It seems to agree with the ruler I got later. And I ordered progressives, online, a rimless/hingeless frame virtually identical to the most popular and mostly most expensive brand in shops. $129. With 2 clip on sunglass lenses. All the options except photochromic, Took 5 weeks to arrive. My second pair actually broke after 2 years, and were welded back together locally for $60. Feh.
It took me a few days to get them adjusted correctly, and they were superb. NO complaint.
Now, my lenses three back were fairly high end progressives, a design with a little distance added into the bottom edge, to help with walking. I noticed that. Changing shops I got a different technology, and they were fine. Going online, a different and older technology, and they were just fine. If you can search for a patent number, you can determine what the offshore shops are using, since they are often obliged to disclose that. Having the latest tech is interesting, but no longer critical for me.
Saving $700? Almost Priceless.
I'm wearing my third pair now, and they took 2 weeks to arrive, price now is $129. The frames were loosely assembled, but they come with a tool, spare bolts and nuts, etc, and the clip ons were kinda wierd shaped. All bendable. It took me almost a week to get these right, but I usually don't take them to a shop for help, it's not right to ask and one shop told me a fitting would be $100. But, my wife buys locally, she has single vision prescriptions, and her guy said he would be HAPPY to fit these for me, gratis. He's a nice guy,
Local shop, $850. Offshore, $129. This is no longer a hard choice for me.
Now, in fairness, my sunglasses fetish is no longer affordable, first because designer and brand-name frames are not going to be available at the offshore shops. I'm partial to Persol and Ray-Ban, and that means full price shops or online no-deal shops. But I learned that Persol acetate frames are nearly indestructible, like Ray-Bans, and Persol polarized glass lenses are so damned good. Even Oakley lenses were not that much better that I would suffer their frame fit issues. I've got a wide head, and wide frames are very difficult to find because, well, the same reason fashion clothing in large sizes is hard to find, designers seem to prefer smaller, it seems to them to look better. Another few months on a carnivore diet should help with this, but my head size will never be small. Rimless and hingeless give me good options, but it's tough to get the larger frames from designers, they seem to reserve that inventory for special customers. At one time Persol simply sent collections to movie stars without asking, and if you look, they are very common in films. Easy to spot
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Squinting.
This was covered in Last Week Tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
And also in "Adam Ruins Everything":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
However while people are talking about breaking up tech (which I don't like as a tech worker), the retail has long consolidated, and there is almost no choice in brands anymore.
This is not how free markets are supposed to work. We need more coverage on this issue, so that we can start a real dialogue towards a solution / solutions.
I once paid $150 for a "premium" frame knowing full well I could buy 1000 for them for $3 each. Literally. My mouse hovered over the buy button for that case of frames, but I decided to just suck it up and get fleeced. I could only justify 4 or so of them, so it made no financial sense to pay for 1000 of them.
If you can get lenses which work for a type of frame, it makes sense to buy an assortment case, but different lens providers cover different frame types, so be sure you've got a match.
Whether I agree or not, that ship sailed with Social Security and Medicare in the 30s. You can blame FDR for the precedent. Was it a good idea then? Did it fix a real problem the country had? How is this really any different? It all falls under the "general Welfare" clause. We are forced to send money to the government to hopefully get some money back one day in Social Security benefits. How is sending in premiums to handle health care any different? There were banks and stocks (although very shaky in the times of the Depression) but there were lots of private options to handle retirement - just like we have today in hospitals and doctors and pharmacies. Yet today we have Social Security and a host of other programs.
As I said - I don't care if it is government controlled or not. For all I care the private insurers can bid to control the fund every year. Whoever will pay the covered expenses at the lowest cost can have control next year while shouldering the responsibility for covering any under-funding of the reserves they goof on... There's lots of options for how to actually do it. The thing is to get it done.
There isn't any issue with separation of powers in this any more than there was an issue with separation of powers when Social Security was enacted. Congress wrote the legislation and the president signed it.
The chances of it happening with the fingers of the medical and insurers all through the Congress is about 0. Doesn't mean it wouldn't be a good idea.
I have some. They aren't like single-lense-across-the-face, rather more golf-glasses style, and I'm not sure the knock-off brand I got did the math as well as Oakley might (for even more $$$), but for a certain range of mild prescriptions it is possible.
Someone had to do it.