Eyeglass wearers: You should listen to this past Sunday's 60 Minutes

[NJ_Mom2011]

60 Minutes had an interesting story explaining why eyeglasses are so expensive for comsumers, even though they are so cheap to make . . .
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57527151/sticker-shock-why-are-glasses-so-expensive/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

The crux of the story is that one company, Luxottica, owns almost all of the eyeglass brands, and own many of the optical stores, including Pearl, Lens Crafters, Sears Optical, and Target Optical. Its few competitors are from Walmart, Costco, and online sites such as Warby Parker.

It is startling to find eyeglass wearers have so few options!

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

Interesting! I buy mine from eyebuydirect online and get multiple fun pairs since they are so inexpensive.

[Snow mom]

A friend of mine who wears glasses was raving about Zenni. I guess they are inexpensive and have a nice selection.

[lovin2shop]

I saw this last night and was totally amazed. I knew that Luxotica made all brands of the high end sunglasses, but I had no idea that they had totally cornered the marked on all eyewear, lenscrafters, etc. Combined with the segment on the Chinese telecom company, it left me with a very unsettled feeling about multinational conglomerates in general.

[hellokitty]

A friend of mine who wears glasses was raving about Zenni. I guess they are inexpensive and have a nice selection.

Zenni is very affordable. I was nervous, so ordered my regular glasses through my doctor and a pr of sunglasses through zenni. The sunglasses are nice, BUT I made the mistake of order too dark of a tint, which is probably my own fault. Anyway, things with zenni went smoothly, I didn't have any issues and would order from them again. In fact, I may have to, my glasses I got from my doctor just broke this wknd (spring hinge just suddenly snapped when I took off my glasses). Luckily, my script hasn't changed much and I still had my old pr.

[minnie-zb]

Those of you who use the online retailers, do you have fairly straightforward prescriptions? For me it isn't the frames which area all that expensive, it is the lenses. If I didn't get special lenses for my prescription, I would have very thick, heavy lenses.

[sste]

We pay a ridiculous amount for DS's glasses. By the time everything is said and done for two pairs each year it is $800-1k. We do buy beautiful frames - - DS gets compliments every week and often people want to know where he bought his glasses. I figure it is an investment in his self-esteem and he started wearing them at 2 years old so it was important to us. What really kills us price-wise though is not the frame but thin lens plus transition lens (DS is pretty sun sensitive) plus anti-reflective coating.

[JElaineB]

Those of you who use the online retailers, do you have fairly straightforward prescriptions? For me it isn't the frames which area all that expensive, it is the lenses. If I didn't get special lenses for my prescription, I would have very thick, heavy lenses.

I am wondering the same thing. I need to get high index lenses for my prescription otherwise they would be way too thick, and that adds on a lot of expense, plus I have astigmatism in both eyes and have a prism for one. I also get anti-glare, anti-scratch etc. coatings, as I have enough trouble seeing at night without additional glare from lights. Each lens for me is over $200 I think, add that on to the frame and a pair of clip-on sunglasses that fit the frame and I am easily into the $700 range for a new pair. This year the only chagne was in one eye, so I kept my old glasses and just replaced the lens for around $200 or so. That means I still have $500 left in my health care flexible spending account though!

[NJ_Mom2011]

I am wondering the same thing. I need to get high index lenses for my prescription otherwise they would be way too thick, and that adds on a lot of expense, plus I have astigmatism in both eyes and have a prism for one. I also get anti-glare, anti-scratch etc. coatings, as I have enough trouble seeing at night without additional glare from lights. Each lens for me is over $200 I think, add that on to the frame and a pair of clip-on sunglasses that fit the frame and I am easily into the $700 range for a new pair. This year the only chagne was in one eye, so I kept my old glasses and just replaced the lens for around $200 or so. That means I still have $500 left in my health care flexible spending account though!

Hear, hear, same boat, about astigmatism and thick lens. (And my dr says I will soon need bifocals, oiy). I think that you can buy the frames from an online store, and then take it to Costco, or whatever local eye place you like and get the expensive lenses. I am seriously consider doing that for my next glasses, as Costco for me has limited selection for my small head.

As for the online stores, at least for Warbyparker.com, I think that you are right, you can't get lens if you have a complicated prescription.

[rlu]

What really kills us price-wise though is not the frame but thin lens plus transition lens (DS is pretty sun sensitive) plus anti-reflective coating.

Gena has more knowledge in this area but she mentioned previously that getting Transition brand specifically is either difficult or not possible from many online places - that they use a different method. Just something to look for if you decide to go online.

Last year we bought DS a pair from Pennys during their $49/pair sale. He likes the frames and gets complimented on them but they don't have Transitions. We did get Transitions on his sport goggles we bought early this year on the same rx and will get him a new pair of everyday glasses with Transitions when our insurance kicks in again next Jan. His rx changed so slightly this fall the doctor suggested we wait until we could use the insurance in Jan (only get new lens if new rx otherwise only every 2 years which is freakingly stupid for kids).

[Kindra178]

I am wondering the same thing. I need to get high index lenses for my prescription otherwise they would be way too thick, and that adds on a lot of expense, plus I have astigmatism in both eyes and have a prism for one. I also get anti-glare, anti-scratch etc. coatings, as I have enough trouble seeing at night without additional glare from lights. Each lens for me is over $200 I think, add that on to the frame and

I have a similar prescription. I have always avoided chain places like Lens Crafters due to the complexities of my script. I also don't like designer frames like Gucci or Prada. I like frames from glasses companies like OGI and Lafont.



Hear, hear, same boat, about astigmatism and thick lens. (And my dr says I will soon need bifocals, oiy). I think that you can buy the frames from an online store, and then take it to Costco, or whatever local eye place you like and get the expensive lenses. I am seriously consider doing that for my next glasses, as Costco for me has limited selection for my small head. As for the online stores, at least for Warbyparker.com, I think that you are right, you can't get lens if you have a complicated prescription.



After many people told me that Costco does a great job with glasses, I made the mistake of trying it. Back and forth three times, all resulting in crazy headaches for days. Off I went to to an expensive independent retailer, I got OGI frames and thinned lenses for almost $700. No headaches at all.

[squimp]

We pay a ridiculous amount for DS's glasses. By the time everything is said and done for two pairs each year it is $800-1k. We do buy beautiful frames - - DS gets compliments every week and often people want to know where he bought his glasses. I figure it is an investment in his self-esteem and he started wearing them at 2 years old so it was important to us. What really kills us price-wise though is not the frame but thin lens plus transition lens (DS is pretty sun sensitive) plus anti-reflective coating.

Yup this is us. Add in bifocals for my DD, which need to be placed just so on the lens and we cannot order online. Wish we could! Thank goodness my insurance reimburses us.

[amldaley]

We are big fans of 39dollarglasses.com and then using coupons from their facebook page. My mom, DH and BFF all have glasses from there.

[brittone2]

I usually only wear my glasses in the evening or at night, so I use Costco. I didn't know there was that type of near monopoly, however!

[kristac]

I've been very happy with Zenni.

[tarahsolazy]

I have significant myopia (-7.25) and astigmatism (+2.25) and I've been buying online for four years now. I currently have 6 pair and still haven't spent as much as one from an optical. I get a thin lens, and anti-reflective. They work great. I will be getting bifocals soon and will shell out for a $600 pair, though, since I need to be able to get help if I think they're wrong.