Why are glasses frames so expensive?

Question

One really needs to take out a mortgage to pay for them these days. Designer frames whether they are plastic or metal don`t look any different from any other kind. there isn`t a great deal of scope, the shapes are all much the same. Isn`t it just another big rip off?

Answer 1

they are waaay too expensive walmart has really great prices on glasses tho

they look the same as designer glasses

Answer 2

I thought the same until a kind friend directed me away from the High Street to an independent optician. He doesn't have a huge variety, but his prices are less than half what I'd have had to pay at D&A or Boots. Good after-sales service too.

Answer 3

Yeah it's just the designer name you're paying for. Ask to look at less expensive ones with no designer name on them. Trust me they have them, the optometrists are just trying to make money by not bringing them out.

I don't know if you are in USA or UK or where.

But I'm in USA, and the reason I know they have cheaper frames that look just as good, is because I used to have no choice but to get the cheaper ones, because that's all my medical coverage would pay for.

I still don't get the expensive ones.

Answer 4

This is what my sister does:

She goes to a glasses store, like lets say Pearl Vision or Lens crafters and she tries them on until she finds the one she really likes (write down the name nad number). Then she goes online, and there is a website that sells them for a lot less. So she finds the one she liked, mails them the prescription or faxes it (not sure) and ta-da! the frame she liked for a lot less money.

http://www.framesdirect.com/designer-eye...

http://www.go-optic.com/

Answer 5

Personally, I think you get what you pay for. I have worn glasses and contacts for a long time and I don't really look to see who the designer is. I go by what style I like best.

My Opthamalogist has a Boutique Eyewear shop in his office. They have tons of choices to choose from, but they are all super expensive. I've also seen the same frames at other places for less money.

I've had this pair of frames for about three maybe four years. When they break, I have 'em repaired. It's not because I am too cheap to buy a different pair...it's because I love these really lightweight frames. But with my prescription being what it is, adding on Transitions, Crizal, and other options, yeah, glasses can be atrociously expensive.

I tried having my prescription made at other places, but no one except my eye doctor's office seems to get the script right. I paid something like $750.00 for these glasses plus I bought some daily wear tinted contacts that cost me $250. or $275...I can't remember. But when I had to pay the bill, I just about dootied in my britches, trying not to act totally shocked.

And unfortunately, it is time for me to go back and see my eye

doctor so he can change my prescription. But there is an optical place across the street from where my son goes to high school that has been doing the repairs to my glasses whenever they break. They have frames in all price ranges.

Since they have mucho eye doctors in there besides their optical store, I may give them my new prescription because I was in there with my hubby and son about six months ago and they had a whole lot of really cool frames in there.

So, if they can get my script right and I can see out of my eye glasses, I think I'll try this place because they are a whole lot cheaper than my eye doctor's Boutique Store.

Why pay that much more for the very same type and designer frames? Not that I care whether they have a designer's name on them or not. I just have a particular style that I happen to like that provides me with good peripheral vision as well as when I am looking straight ahead.

So, if you want your glasses to be cheaper, it truly does pay to

shop around. There really are some places that don't want an arm and a leg plus part of your significant other's arm and a leg.

I never thought I would find a pair of reasonably priced frames

but I did. It is always the prescription being right to where I can

see outta my lenses that I worry about most. As long as I have

the glasses made in my eye doctor's office, the script seems to always be perfect. That's the only reason I still have mine made there. I just don't think that it should cost more than a couple of hundred dollars to have glasses made. Oh, maybe

an extra hundred or so for the extra c**p I have put on mine.

I have tried other places, let them remake the script as many as three times and never could see out of them clearly. I gave them back and said that if I couldn't see out of 'em and they weren't any good to me. And I wasn't about to pay for glasses that weren't made right to where I couldn't see really good. This was at my friendly Wal-Mart SuperCenter. They tried but

these folks knew they couldn't come even remotely close to making the script to where I could see. Maybe the script was just too complicated for 'em...I honestly dunno.

And yeah, I always have 'em put the no lines, super thin lense,

the automatic darkening & scratch proof stuff on my glasses.  I don't want to pay for an additional pair just so I'll have dark lenses when I go out in the sun. It's just a whole lot easier and cheaper to put all of the stuff into one pair of glasses for me.

I guess it really depends on where you live and maybe where you shop. I'll probably keel over dead if I ever have to pay this much for another pair of glasses.   ☺

Answer 6

Its not really a rip-off.. Depending where you buy them from some have warrentys.. Heres a link to in-expensive designer glasses: http://stores.ebay.com/opticaloasisinc

I have purchased from there and they are very good. They upload their glasses frequently..  

Answer 7

Yes I agree, they have to make a profit to cover salary and rental etc, but the markups are ridiculous.