6mo ago

Sticker shock: Why are glasses so expensive?

Luxottica: the illusion of choice and what you're really getting when you spend hundreds of dollars on glasses.

This documentary was broadcast 13 years ago. Since then, Luxottica, the monopolistic Italian frames manufacturer, merged with Essilor, the largest ophthalmic lens manufacturer in the world. Today, EssilorLuxottica vertically controls 80% of the eyewear industry.

Here are more recent documentaries about EssilorLuxottica:

8 comments

I'm not going to disclose where I buy my glasses but when I bought it locally, I could very easily spend above 300€ for stock lenses and a basic frame.
I needed a lense change every two, at best, three years. Between wear and prescription change, it was necessary.
One year I spend nearly 400€ on prescription glasses. Under less than 3 months I have a lense peeling, the coating flaking off the surface. I file a complaint and the lense is sent to the manufacturer for evaluation abd it is found I am to blame. No exchange, no refund.
I decide to take a gamble, go to an Ophthalmologist, get a medical prescription issued, and then have my glasses executed externally. All things added, I spent 130€ to replace my glasses.
The next time I go see the same doctor for a checkup, I get complimented on the quality of the lenses I have but criticized for overkill (very low thickness, which I really don't require, anti reflex, UV, scratch resistant, etc).
I have never bought glasses again in my local market.
- I’m not going to disclose where I buy my glasses
  Why not? Do share 🙂
  I don't pay for frames and I can get single vision lenses for relatively cheap - like $70 a pair. That's because single-vision lens blanks are mass-produced in molds, so all the lens manufacturer has to do is pull the correct pre-made blanks and edge them.
  So my single vision glasses cost $70. Not as cheap as they could be, but my lenses last a few years since I'm careful and my vision doesn't change too much, so it's okay.
  But the real killers are my progressive lenses: the last pair I ordered cost me $600. Progressive lenses are ground to order, so I get the price difference. But still... $600 is really quite steep. I buy custom-made things that are way more complicated to make than machine-ground lenses for a lot less.
  
  I shared it once when I was still on Reddit and the lot came down on my head.
  I had a pair of progressives made for my father in law at the same place and what would be a 1300€ total, locally, got knocked down to a bit less than €200, doctor apointment included.
  5 years later, the glasses are still perfect.
zenni gang represent!
Ive been ordering my glasses online for years now about 100$USD a pair just need to know your eye chart numbers.
The reason its expensive is because normal people just trying to get through the day don't know any better and think you need to buy them in a physical store that jacks up hunks of plastic by 5000% profit because their parents did it that way for them as kids.
Its purely predation that relies on consumer complacency. There was a time they could get away with the racket because you had no other options and precision lenses were difficult to produce. Now everything is cheap and easy to manufacture in mail order.
Spin the wheel on some clearance frames online.
I buy 3 pair of sunglasses for $20. e.g. glasses are not expensive. Expensive glasses are expensive.
- I'm guessing you don't need prescription lenses. Correct?
  And yeah, I'll agree with you that overpriced designer brands are overpriced. That's the case with designer anything. But if you just need basic, good quality glasses simply to see correctly, you still end up paying a lot of money because the market is captive.

8 comments