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Thread: So why are prescription eyeglasses so darned expensive? .............................

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    Redhot Jumper So why are prescription eyeglasses so darned expensive? .............................

    Framed


    Note: Full episode will be available to view online starting Saturday at 11 a.m. ET


    The materials in them are downright cheap. Even crafting the lenses is hardly labour-intensive. So why are prescription eyeglasses so darned expensive?

    Tom Harrington focuses in on the outrageously high price of spectacles. In this eye-opening report, we test recent changes in retail and regulation, to see if anyone's offering a better deal.

    To those of you who have questionsabout the CBC carrying ads about products Marketplace investigates: CBChas Advertising Standards policies, which can be found at http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/docs/policies/ads/.The approval process for commercials is supervised by CBC's AdvertisingStandards Department, which operates independently from CBC News.

    Thank you for yourcomments. Please be assured that all mail is read and shared by senior programpersonnel. However, the amount of mail we receive makes it impossible for us torespond to everyone individually. TheMarketplace team moderatescomment boards Tuesdays to Saturdays during regular business hours. The commentboard is open for 14 days following the initial broadcast.

    Go to --------------------------------------------> http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/framed/




    Last edited by Chris Ryser; 02-24-2012 at 04:12 AM.

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    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...n-glasses.html

    When asked by a Marketplace producer for her PD, a Pearle Vision clerk responded that they were not allowed to divulge that information.
    HeHehe this is Top Secret optical information Ma'am .
    Cloak and Dagger and all that

    Maverick: It's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
    Top Gun

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    It is easy to see why stories like this can fly. I have a friend that has VSP. She took her daughter for glasses and her portion was still hundreds. SV poly and one of those frames that comes to retailers in a box with eleven more frames. Yall know what is the cost of this. I am familiar with this chain. They have no opticians. I can't believe the professional service was worth all that. What she paid made me want to throw up. She could have gone to an independent and paid much less with out the insurance. Next time.

    Same thing that rots the tomatoes at the farmers market, GREED.

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    Redhot Jumper Many Canadians are overpaying for prescription glasses...............................

    CBC : Prescription glasses cost many Canadians too much

    Many Canadians are overpaying for prescription glasses due to weak competition in the market and strict eye-test regulations that make it hard for consumers to shop around, a Marketplace investigation reveals.

    A pair of glasses can cost upwards of $1,000, with the most expensive part being the lenses. But an industry insider said quality generic lenses that will serve most people are mass-produced and can cost as little as $2 to $10 to make.

    Even lenses that need more work will cost between $20 and $50 to produce, said Bruce Bergez, a former optician from Hamilton, Ont., who used to own the retail chain Great Glasses.

    Watch Marketplace

    The CBC's Marketplace discovers how cheap a pair of glasses really is, compares prices among stories, examines the giant that dominates the industry, and looks at whether the eyecare establishment is protecting its own interests.

    Framed airs at Feb. 24 at 8 pm/8:30 pm NT on CBC-TV and will be available to view online starting Feb. 25 at 11 a.m.

    "In a pair of glasses you have one, two, three, four, screws. Two pairs of lenses made out of plastic, OK? Either metal frames or plastic frames," he told CBC's Marketplace. "It seems to me incredibly odd that has to sell for four, five, six hundred dollars."
    Bergez said it's the established players — both retailers and those regulating the optometry industry — that are keeping the cost of glasses high.

    Competition in the market may be an optical illusion, as LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical and Sunglass Hut are all owned by multinational firm Luxottica.
    The company also designs and manufactures almost all of the designer brand frames sold inside their stores, from Ray-Ban and Oakley, to Prada, Versace and Chanel, according to their website.
    Prices related to 'fashion': LensCrafters

    When asked why glasses can be so expensive, the vice-president of operations for LensCrafters, Dominic Guglielmi, said, "We can correlate it to the fashion in clothing."

    "These are designer brands. These brands have cachet … I mean Chanel has a pricing position in the market. And they have that same pricing position whether it's eyeglasses, purses, shoes, etc."

    One option for consumers who want more bang for their buck is to shop online, such as at ClearlyContacts.ca. Frames start as low as $38, according to their TV commercial, and the web portal offers most of the same designer brands.

    However, a would-be buyer needs a prescription and a key detail not usually disclosed to glass wearers — their pupillary distance, or PD. This refers to the distance between a person's pupils and ensures that the eyes and lenses are properly aligned.

    Unfortunately, it can be difficult to for a consumer to measure PD themselves, and most written prescriptions or stores do not offer this information.

    When asked by a Marketplace producer for her PD, a Pearle Vision clerk responded that they were not allowed to divulge that information.
    Only doctors can prescribe glasses in Ontario

    Bergez's chain, Great Glasses, was offering free, simple sight tests and cheap eyeglasses, prompting the College of Optometrists to take him to court.

    The college's rules and provincial laws dictate that only doctors can prescribe glasses.
    Bergez was ordered to stop but continued to defy the rules and was fined millions of dollars.
    The battle went all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada, but the top court to refused to hear his appeal.
    Bergez was eventually sentenced to a year in jail.

    In the end, the former optician lost his house and his business, and still owes more than $17 million — the biggest contempt fine in Canadian history.

    Bergez said most often, his customers just wanted to improve the strength of their eyeglasses or change for fashion purposes.
    "The machine, I never felt was prescribing," he said.
    Industry protecting own interests, former optician says

    Bergez is viewed by some as a folk hero, challenging the eyeglass industry, while others say he was flouting the rules to make a buck.
    He said the rules serve to protect the industry's profits.

    "They say they're protecting the public, but really at the end of the day, they're protecting their self interests."
    In B.C., however, the rules around how eyewear is dispensed are changing.

    In both brick-and-mortar and online stores, opticians are allowed to sell glasses after doing a simple sight test — the same kind of tests that got Bergez in trouble in Ontario. As well, customers in B.C. also get their pupillary distance information included in every prescription.
    But the head of the Ontario College of Optometrists, Paula Garshowitz, said a simple test for new glasses can't replace a full eye exam.
    "Through the course of the exam, the optometrist may arrive at information that actually there is undetected eye disease that made the patients vision blurry, not a change in their prescription," said Garshowitz.

    When asked why Ontario prescriptions do not include a person's PD, Garshowitz said, "It is not part of the required clinical information for the provision of a prescription."

    Until the rules change, Bergez said he plans to move to B.C. and open up a new store there.
    "We'd like to stay in Ontario but circumstances dictate the political climate is better in British Columbia. … We're all Canadians, it should be one playing field across the country — and it's not," Bergez said.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...n-glasses.html

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    In Chris's and all the posts, very valid points are made - at least from the simplistic viewpoint of "all eyeglasses are a rip off." However, this goes right to the central point about eyewear: John Q. doesn't want it, and doesn't see intrinsic value in it.

    But the public does see and appreciate value in their average, monthly cable, cellphone, liquor and food bill - and by food I'm referring to soft drink and junk food components.

    The way I see it, the questions for our industry to address are:

    1. Why are peope so negatively disposed to eyewear, and what can we do about it?
    2. How can we arrange to *split* up the ownership/purchase price of eyewear into a more attractive and manageable monthly payment arrangement?
    3. How can we evolve to make eyewear as exciting and fashionable to the public as clothing and footwear are?

    From my viewpoint, theses negatively-toned investigative reports, and the related websites that have sprung up (Suxottica, etc), are right on the money poiting out how large business conglomerates (and insurance plans owned by the same), formed during years of favorable, but wrongly-minded, government oversite, have created an environment where they almost completely dictate quality and price in large portions of the eyewear distribution chain. I would like to further tap into the public's latent emotional outrage over eyewear quality and frame pricing through social media, and get a boycott going toward the appropiate entities. Surely I've exhausted myself over the years in crying to them about ever-higher prices for intagible differences or improvements in eyewear quality.

    In the end, online may really prove to be a surprise for use, by allowing ecps to finally charge a fair and reasonable price for our skills, advice avnd convenience. Product:one price. Service, warrantee, convenience and expertise: optional and chargeable. The window of opportunity for the public to waltz into any optical shop and get a free tune-up/frame fix may have just received its first expiration date.

    Remember the golden rule in the coming war: Remain credible at all times.

    Game on.

    B
    Last edited by Barry Santini; 02-24-2012 at 07:36 AM.

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    I think that the real bottom line here is:

    We as a society have settled for mediocrity and will accept mediocre products, mediocre or non existent service, and accept them as just fine.

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    Or Alternatively we could ask ourselves:

    How do we reduce costs dramatically so we could both reduce prices and increase profits?

    While maintaining the superior quality of service of course.

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    Master OptiBoarder mdeimler's Avatar
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    Why do we need to reduce costs ? Women pay way too much for Prada purses and exotic perfumes. Men pay too much for Nike Air sneakers and Burberry ties. I relate this fact to my patients and it works in many cases. Push the benefits of glasses. We NEED them to see, every single day.

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    Because they're worth it. The ones I make are any way.

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    I like this report, but as always,n they explain the retail cost of the eyeglasses. I agree $1000.00 for a pair of eyeglasses is crazy,but look at the cost for B&M optical to product, a $179.00 pair. Take out all expenses and how much "PROFIT" is left over.....very little. I wish one of these reports would be completed by the the fial step, and report on the "TRUE COST" of making a $179.00 pair.

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    I disagree Coupe, about $1k being crazy for eyewear.

    As I discuss with my clients, when they exclaim the same about their new eyewear:

    The problem your perception of eyewear's high price is that we, all of us, take our vision for granted. Unlike the new (Honda, Mercedes, Nissan, etc.) that you climb into every morning, shut the door, hear the thunk of quality, and think to yourself "what a smart person am I that I spent my money on this car", we put our eyewear on in the morning and just look past it the rest of the day.

    We take our vision and the accompanying eyewear for granted.

    If any other part of your health or senses was as impaired as your uncorrected vision, and I told you I could fix/restore it to as good as new for a thousand dollars...

    You'd say it was a bargain!

    And they *always* nod in agreement.

    B
    Last edited by Barry Santini; 02-24-2012 at 10:30 AM.

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    And they *always* nod in agreement
    Because they are polite.

    Few people would get into a philosophical argument with their optician.

    And corrective eyeglasses are more like a crutch. They allow a person to more or less overcome their physical handicap.

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    Upcoming stories include:

    WHY ARE CARS SO DARN EXPENSIVE?
    WHY IS CLOTHING SO DARN EXPENSIVE?
    WHY IS FOOD SO DARN EXPENSIVE?
    WHY IS GASOLINE SO DARN EXPENSIVE?

    AND ON AND ON AND ON........

    NOTHING NEW HERE.....

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nikolay Angelov View Post
    Because they are polite.

    Few people would get into a philosophical argument with their optician.

    And corrective eyeglasses are more like a crutch. They allow a person to more or less overcome their physical handicap.
    Disagree. With the new awareness of the need to block UV for the eye and the surrounding adnexa, you will see fashion frames, plano Rx (!) and Crizal UV poly/airwear lenses.

    Mark my words.

    B
    Last edited by Barry Santini; 02-24-2012 at 11:39 AM.

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nikolay Angelov View Post
    Because they are polite.

    Few people would get into a philosophical argument with their optician.

    And corrective eyeglasses are more like a crutch. They allow a person to more or less overcome their physical handicap.
    Nikolay

    Should this be your chosen career?

    B

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    Barry and Fezz are right..............................................


    Coastal also reports that its North American hub shipped 83,066 prescription eyeglasses during the month of January, 2012, compared with 38,207 eyeglasses during the same period in 2011, an increase of 117%.


    Barry and Fezz are right..............................................

    When you read above segment from my post on Coastal, I would like to know if anybody on this board has had such an increase in business during January. I could not think of any other reason for that besides the pricing, they advertise. People like to go to a good optician, but the price difference seems to draw them like a magnet.

    Yesterday I had to look for some opticians in the US and went on Google. First thing which came up a picture of the B&M store and second the listing made by Firmo.com who is also a on-line optical, and lists as many B&M stores as possible.

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    Barry....+1

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    Blue Jumper quite a few comments by opticians on that website.................

    Actually there are already quite a few comments by opticians on that website......................http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/framed/

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ryser View Post
    Barry and Fezz are right..............................................

    When you read above segment from my post on Coastal, I would like to know if anybody on this board has had such an increase in business during January. I could not think of any other reason for that besides the pricing, they advertise. People like to go to a good optician, but the price difference seems to draw them like a magnet.

    Yesterday I had to look for some opticians in the US and went on Google. First thing which came up a picture of the B&M store and second the listing made by Firmo.com who is also a on-line optical, and lists as many B&M stores as possible.
    Firmoo counts on the searches for local opticians providing hits to their website and coverting B and M sales to online sales. I recall an optician bringing up an idea of a national directory for opticians to the national organizations, but no one knew how to directly profit from it so the idea was never realized. I find it now interesting that the websites have taken this very idea and used it as a form of SEO, which was suggested to the national organizations.

    Interestingly enough your posts about this article agreggates the artcile giving it higher rankings so in essence your giving the article credibility with your post. Further looking into your posts I realize that you post alot about the upcoming doom and gloom in this industry and seem to be betting on a future demise of opticians, even though you portray with your words that you were once an optician and a good one. My guess is that you may have stock in an online venture.

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    Chris, not trying to put you on the spot, but is this news story related to the "interview" you were selected for a few days ago in another thread? Where they wanted to do an informative story about vertical integration in the optical industry?

    I'm sure it's not, but when the media thinks they can rack up some ratings, they will do a story about anything. How about the high cost of Bourbon, or gasoline.

    edit: Oh, upon further reading, maybe it is related.
    Last edited by fjpod; 02-24-2012 at 02:22 PM.

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    Blue Jumper

    Quote Originally Posted by PhiTrace View Post

    Further looking into your posts I realize that you post alot about the upcoming doom and gloom in this industry and seem to be betting on a future demise of opticians, even though you portray with your words that you were once an optician and a good one. My guess is that you may have stock in an online venture.

    I just love your post...........this is not the first time I heard this one, however the mentioning of me owning stock in an on-line optical is a first.

    My company lives on sales of poducts to B&M stores as well as to regular optical labs in Canada as well in the US, so it is in my interest is to have them prosper. However I do follow the politics of optical behaviour and try to patch the puzzles together.

    I have to disapoint you...................................you pull your guesses from the clouds and make accusations of no value.

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    Unfortunatly it's gloom and doom reports that tend to get people motivated to fix/address/attack/correct something that is wronging the whole of society. I've followed a lot of Chris's posts and have to say he tends to be pro B&M but informs us on what the onlines are doing that affect said B&M stores.

    Thanks for the motivation and information Chris! There are a lot of good ideas being put forth in this particular thread. I like what Barry has stated about the days of free adjustments etc, and we as a profession having to examine this process and charge for what we do. It's what we should have been doing all along.
    Now to figure out how to fit it into billing, especially those that do insurance. We are going to need to change the whole system eventually, and that is going to take a lot of motivation, and it all comes around to reports like this thread.

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    Master OptiBoarder LENNY's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ryser View Post
    I just love your post...........this is not the first time I heard this one, however the mentioning of me owning stock in an on-line optical is a first.

    My company lives on sales of poducts to B&M stores as well as to regular optical labs in Canada as well in the US, so it is in my interest is to have them prosper. However I do follow the politics of optical behaviour and try to patch the puzzles together.

    I have to disapoint you...................................you pull your guesses from the clouds and make accusations of no value.
    Chris...
    No offense, but someone has to supply Coastal with chemicals to produce 4000 jobs a day!?!?!? Hopefully you!

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    told ya nothin good would come of this.

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