Why these are so inexpensive?

[delta901]

I'm a Rx user and found the the following website:
www.optical4less.com
http://www.19dollareyeglasses.com/

These sites offer incredible price on Rx glasses! Here are question I don't understand why they are so inexpensive.
A pair of Rx with cheapest frame - bottom of the line lens cost me over $75 in Los Angeles. (I'm a college student and can't afford $$$ just for something that only last 9-12mo).
On those site, they offer very low price $29 (O4L) and $19 (Zenni). Heard many good thing about them (from users, not advertiser) so I ordered from them but haven't received it yet.

I found this forum and I know that here, many of member are the PROs . My question are:
-Why are they so inexpensive? (except I know that they are in HK, cheaper labor)
-In term of REAL quality, are they good (AR, lens)? I mean in term of "you got what you pay for"!
-If their quality are good (lens, frame), why U.S. price are so high (many of the low -mid end frame are still Made in China)?

Technical question: I have a pair of AR coating glasses and I want to know what is the best way to care AR glasses:
-Can I put it in the car? If so how, where, to avoid cracked AR?
-what kind of lens cleaner should I use? My friend told me to use MC formula lens cleaner that he uses for his $$$$ canon camera lens.
-What kind of cleaning cloth should I use?

Thank you so much for your opinions!

[drk]

All professional care and advice will cost you $149.95 to go with your on-line glasses purchase. Sorry.

[delta901]

All professional care and advice will cost you $149.95 to go with your on-line glasses purchase. Sorry.

This is NOT care or advice, I just want some opinions!

[drk]

This is NOT care or advice, I just want some opinions!

I'm being a sarcastic smart-@@@.

I guess there is always some cheap-o product available. I'm not sure exactly how they do stuff: molded lenses, shoddy standards, cheap materials, Kathie Lee work-force, etc. You've seen drug store reading glasses, right? Same thing. What's new is that they do far vision prescriptions, but even that's probably not new.

Don't put AR in the car.

Go into any optical shop for lens care products!

Good luck in classes this fall! (Non-alcoholic, if you're under 21)

[Spexvet]

I'm a Rx user and found the the following website:
www.optical4less.com
http://www.19dollareyeglasses.com/

These sites offer incredible price on Rx glasses! Here are question I don't understand why they are so inexpensive.
A pair of Rx with cheapest frame - bottom of the line lens cost me over $75 in Los Angeles. (I'm a college student and can't afford $$$ just for something that only last 9-12mo).
On those site, they offer very low price $29 (O4L) and $19 (Zenni). Heard many good thing about them (from users, not advertiser) so I ordered from them but haven't received it yet.

I found this forum and I know that here, many of member are the PROs . My question are:
-Why are they so inexpensive? (except I know that they are in HK, cheaper labor)
-In term of REAL quality, are they good (AR, lens)? I mean in term of "you got what you pay for"!
-If their quality are good (lens, frame), why U.S. price are so high (many of the low -mid end frame are still Made in China)?

Technical question: I have a pair of AR coating glasses and I want to know what is the best way to care AR glasses:
-Can I put it in the car? If so how, where, to avoid cracked AR?
-what kind of lens cleaner should I use? My friend told me to use MC formula lens cleaner that he uses for his $$$$ canon camera lens.
-What kind of cleaning cloth should I use?

Thank you so much for your opinions!

If you saw an advertisement for an automobile for $3,000, how would you react? Pretty unbelievable, eh? The glasses are probably cheap for a couple of reasons.
1. They don't have to pay an optician to make sure the frame fits you, to measure you to make sure you will be looking out of the right part of the lens, to fit your glasses to your head, or to determine if the frame and Rx are compatible.
2. They don't pay rent for a "showroom" or shop.
3. The frame and lens quality cannot be good.
4. They pay the workers who make the glasses very little.

AR questions:
Don't leave your AR lenses in the car. Heat is likely to break down the coating and damage the lenses.
To clean AR lenses: At your kitchen sink, wet your glasses with warm (not hot) water. Soap them up with a mild dish soap, like Dawn. Rinse with warm water. Dry with a clean, cotton cloth. Don't dry your lenses with paper product, don't use harsh chemicals, like windex, and take them off and just wipe them with your shirt.

[hcjilson]

why don't you ask them the same questions at the end of your first post? You should trust their answers! If you brought your car in to your mechanic and asked for some diagnostics you'd be paying 70 bucks an hour or any part of an hour, just to find out whats wrong with your car. Please refer to drks original answer to your somewhat mystifying question. He had it right!(sexist assumption on my part, sorry.)

hj

[For-Life]

Well it is very simple. I could open up a place very similar and charge the same prices by doing the following:

1. The responsibility is placed on the customer. For instance, they do not hire a trained professional to take the fittings. Instead they ask you to take the fittings. If you make a mistake, too bad. If you take the wrong measurements, too bad. If the frames do not fit you, too bad. Additionally, they just check out the RX to the prescription and what measurements you wrote, so if the doctor made a mistake, again it is your problem, not theirs. If you are going into progressives the measurements have to be dead on, so you are taking a lot of risk this way. So now they do not have to pay for any remakes and they do not have to pay for trained employees. This guy is telling you that OD's are lazy if they do not give you the measurements, but they are trained to do that, and it is not and should not be a free service. That would be like me asking someone to build my house, but to do it for free while I buy the lumber from someone else. There is a reason why OD's and Opticians have to go through as much training as they do. I do not think you can simplify years of training and experience with take a measurement of one eye to another.

2. No warranty. Scratched lenses, broken frames, or any repair is not covered in the prices. When I sell a pair of glasses that is included in the frames and lenses. So now they do not have to pay for the warranties.

3. Coatings are junk. I can buy the same junk coatings, but I want to build my clientele not destroy it. These coatings tend to break off of the lens. Now if you think it is difficult to see out of scratched lenses, try to see out of a broken off (crazed) coated pair.

4. They do not have to pay for high priced locations. Do you know how much rent and design of our stores are? We have to be in prime locations to help serve you better. We have to have a nice design and nice frames to serve you better. This guy is probably doing it out of his basement, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was the only staff.

5. The frames are cheaper frames. Again I could use the same frames, but I don't want to dispense junk.

I could easily compete with this place if I followed those things, but by charging more I can offer the following.

- I can guarentee that you will see with the new glasses. I do not just offer that the lenses will meet the measurements and the prescription. That means if we make a mistake with the measurements we will fix it, or if there is a doctor change we will fix it.

- Warranty. I offer a two year unconditional warranty. Sure it brings up the price, but if you scratch, chip, or break your lenses, or if your frame discolours or breaks we will replace it for you problem free. Our glasses will last you a full two years. These glasses, if you can see out of them when you get them can be prone to a much shorter cycle and are not even guarenteed for a week.

- We offer only the highest grades in AR. That means that they are easy to clean, the highest light transmission, and they do not easily break away from the lens.

- We offer total comfort. The frames are adjusted for you, and any minor repairs are taken care of.

- We offer you a prime location. A show room where you can try the product on and knowledgable staff to help educate you about your needs.

[Eddie G's]

Well said For-Life!!!

[chip anderson]

Phrased simply: Have you compared a Yugo with a Lexis?

[For-Life]

well even so, it is like saying that if you buy a $19 medical tool set you will be able to perform your own open heart surgery.

[delta901]

Thank For-Life for the well-explained opinions!

I guess you owned or run a very honest optical store. Well, that's kind of store I can't dream of in L.A.

9 out of 10 stores here are junk. No warranty, nothing. Once I replaced my lens at a local store and they broke my frame. They said it was broken before they touched it . They argeed to replace my frame with the lowest priced frame in their store. WTF? They even told me "take it or leave it" Same thing happens over and over again with different store and different people I know.

AR is junk! They cracked after about a week ! That's pair of glasses cost me over $150! That's why I can't trust "local" anymore!

I ordered 2 pairs just for spare (my DL required it when I am driving)!

As for any broken, I can do a charge-back! Either way, they will lose (at least $25, max $55) if they give me crappy stuff!

[ziggy]

delta,A pair of spex's with an ar coating for $150.00? A good quality AR coating will cost $85-$110. thats one with a foundation coat warrenty etc. Eyeware at that price SHOULD be considered disposiable. Feel free to post questions about quality of a given product, just dont expect(or hope for) us to say that a $29.00 pair of rx spex's are ok to buy. good luck!!

[Spexvet]

Thank For-Life for the well-explained opinions!

I guess you owned or run a very honest optical store. Well, that's kind of store I can't dream of in L.A.

9 out of 10 stores here are junk. No warranty, nothing. Once I replaced my lens at a local store and they broke my frame. They said it was broken before they touched it . They argeed to replace my frame with the lowest priced frame in their store. WTF? They even told me "take it or leave it" Same thing happens over and over again with different store and different people I know.

AR is junk! They cracked after about a week ! That's pair of glasses cost me over $150! That's why I can't trust "local" anymore!

I ordered 2 pairs just for spare (my DL required it when I am driving)!

As for any broken, I can do a charge-back! Either way, they will lose (at least $25, max $55) if they give me crappy stuff!

My guess is that you are unhappy with discount stores. The same issues apply to discount stores as apply to your web purchase. When you purchase low priced glasses ($150 with AR), you can expect them to perform like low priced glasses (AR "cracking,not backed up by store). Much of the price of a pair of glasses is not the product, it's the service & backing.
If I break your frame, pick whatever you want as a replacement, after all it was my fault. But I also reserve the right to decline to use your frame, if I think it won't survive the trauma of having new lenses inserted. As a licensed Optician and after 25 years I can tell. And I'll do it with a smile. I also guarantee my glasses against breaking for a year. No questions asked. And how can I afford to do all that? I charge more than $150 for a pair of glasses with AR.

[Johns]

Delta901:

Don't listen to DRK, he doesn't know what he's talking about(in regards to pricing)!! $149.95 is way too much for advice on your cheapo glasses. I'll give you all the advice you need for $139.95. Nobody can beat MY prices!!!

[eromitlab]

to put it simply... you get what you pay for.

[drk]

Delta901:

Don't listen to DRK, he doesn't know what he's talking about(in regards to pricing)!! $149.95 is way too much for advice on your cheapo glasses. I'll give you all the advice you need for $139.95. Nobody can beat MY prices!!!

Prostitute!

[Chris Ryser]

Without mentioning any prices there is also another explanation.

Frame inporters pay a basic price for a frame. They have distribution cost, pay commisions to sales reps and so forth.

In the old days, a frame distributor would go to an optical retailer who the would choose som frames he liked, either one by one or buy real stock quantites for which he got a discount. Models used to sell for at least a few years. Spare parts were available for up to 5 years. But the important thing was the opticians would use his own money tu purchase and pay for what he bought.

These days where many or most frames come from the orient, at basically smaller m,anufacturing cost they are sold for more money.

Due to competition importers have reverted to teh same system that is used in supermarkets. Coca Cola gets a shelf and or a corner and loads it full with their products and the store only pays whats sold. Pepsi will fight to get another corner to do the same thing but the store has a contract with coke. Coke will also take back nything thats not been sold.

It is very similar in the optical, lots of consignment everywhere. The importer will get back not popular models and ends up throwing them away. Some companies have up to 60 percent returns. All this has to be calculated into the wholesale price and suddenly the cost to the retail store is manyfold the actual value of the frame. The retailer has also to make a decent profit and a decent living.

It is the system of today's age that gets the cost up. If return and consignment polycies would not exist one would find a considerable lower price for frames across the board with the retailer still making a good profit. But instead sending back the non selling units he would have to sell them discounted price.

[For-Life]

Have you guys ever have someone buy contact lenses from 1-800 and then ask you to fit them up on them and show them how to put it in?

We got that years ago and they were mad because we were going to charge them for it.

[Rophod]

Just a note, the personal service and warranty given for a $149 pair of glasses in you local office far exceeds the warranty and personal service given for a car that can cost $30,000 or more. Go figure.

I once had a patient, a business man, who after quoting him a fee for his glasses said "I don't know how you guys make any money with the amount of time and service that goes into making and servicing a pair of glasses". God I loved that guy.

[For-Life]

Just a note, the personal service and warranty given for a $149 pair of glasses in you local office far exceeds the warranty and personal service given for a car that can cost $30,000 or more. Go figure.

I once had a patient, a business man, who after quoting him a fee for his glasses said "I don't know how you guys make any money with the amount of time and service that goes into making and servicing a pair of glasses". God I loved that guy.

You're right. I mean how many places can you go into and get free repairs and service. I remember getting a statement from a lawyer charging me $0.25 per paper clip. We not only do free service and repairs, but we also do free service and repairs if you didn't buy your glasses from us.