Eyeglass casses getting expensive???

[Uncle Fester]

Will frame suppliers increase their frame costs or stop supplying cases with frames due to high shipping costs in the not too distant future?

We have a local frame company saying they are soon not going to be able to supply cases with frames as their cost is going north of $5 a case with a cargo container now shipping from China costing over $20,000. A couple years ago the same was less than $1,800. On top of that is skyrocketing freight charges from the truck driver shortage.

this leads me to speculate many designers are at the least going to change designs to the fold-able cardboard to save space.

May be time to evaluate our stock as well.

Anyone out there with an insiders perspective???

[drk]

Good time for an American to start a frame case company.

[Quig]

Good time for an American to start a frame case company.

Story is the same... the materials will likely be sourced from China.

Newsflash; EVERYTHING is getting expensive.... stupid expensive. Bidennomics/Bidenflation. Its' all a bad joke. But it's not a joke.

[Alex Camblor]

Maui Jim already switched to foldable cases last year. They same pretty lousy for the cost of their frames and lenses.

[KrystleClear]

Story is the same... the materials will likely be sourced from China.

Newsflash; EVERYTHING is getting expensive.... stupid expensive. Bidennomics/Bidenflation. Its' all a bad joke. But it's not a joke.

The tariffs that Trump imposed on Chinese imports probably have some to do with rising costs too. That and there is pressure on China to ensure it's workers are treated better and not being paid slave wages and not working in dangerous/unhealthy conditions. In some areas, Uyghurs are being rounded up and placed into "re-education" camps where they are essentially slave labor, and it has been revealed that many companies, like Nike and Apple, were using their labor. China only corners the manufacturing market because they exploit workers. For that to change, workers need to be paid fairly. For workers to be paid fairly, prices are going to go up. Right now workers worldwide are fighting for fair wages, so I think most things are going to get more expensive, in general. There are plans brewing nationwide in the US for a universal labor strike in October.

All that said, I wonder if this means suppliers like Ron's Optical will up the price on their bulk cases too? They are all made in China as well. We purchase them in bulk and slap our logo sticker on them to give patients with the more basic frames that don't come from the manufacturer with cases. Honestly, I don't see much variance in quality from the branded cases that come with frames versus the cheapies that we get in bulk. The flocked plastic lining comes loose in all of them. I kind of like the triangular cases that collapse flat for shipment/storage. Saves space, which could save on shipping, although they are sort of heavy.

[Uncle Fester]

Steve Machol tries hard to limit political comments on this board which can sometimes be tricky as politics play a part of our business/profession on occasion. That said it made things much less, shall we say, lively than a few years ago but I'm told Opticians on Facebook is a viable alternative for those who have a hard time posting political comments in shades of purple.

Steve does not envision OB as being more than a professional optical board. Some of us still can't help but push the envelope now and then.

I'm a shade of magenta guy myself.

[Barry Santini]

Maui Jim already switched to foldable cases last year. They same pretty lousy for the cost of their frames and lenses.

agreed

[mervinek]

They are getting crazy expensive...but yes so is everything else. It would be interesting to see if frame manufacturers stop including cases. What would that mean to all the crazy bins of name brand cases I have? Perhaps a generic option will give me more space? Just a thought.

[AngeHamm]

Costs aside, we're having backorder issues on generic cases as well. There's nothing I love more than being charged a mint for product you can't even deliver in a timely fashion.

[mervinek]

Well you guys got me all paranoid and I just ordered cases. And yes there were a ton out of stock and on backorder. I was able to get a couple cases of some clamshell which is what I needed. Good grief. First toilet paper and now cases!