Why Glasses Are So Expensive

Adam at Get Better Glasses has a great post on why glasses are so expensive at traditional retail stores. In essence, it is part the history of the industry, part inclusion of expert service in the product price, and part just being what the market can bear.

We’re working on an article about the pros and cons of buying glasses online, but I’d like to share a little of that here. In my mind, there are three reasons why glasses are so much more expensive at traditional retail stores than they are online:

1. You’re paying for service in addition to glasses

Currently, most opticians include their service and expertise in the cost of a new pair of glasses. This covers:

• advice in selecting a frame and choosing appropriate lens materials
• sometimes measuring your pupillary distance (PD; if not provided by your doctor)
• taking a precise seg height measurement for bifocals / progressives
• sometimes calculating pantoscopic tilt (a forward tilt given to lenses that can provide slightly better optics for some prescriptions)
• adjusting your glasses after they are fabricated, and
• making future adjustments as needed.

Also, opticians typically offer the 1-2 year warranty provided by the frame manufacturer or lab with each pair of glasses. This is all valuable service, and much of it is only the result of being an expert who studied at an expensive school. Opticians absolutely deserve to be compensated.

The thing is, this service is included in the price of the pair of glasses, instead of being charged separately. And so it is hidden from consumers, who walk away only thinking, “Wow, glasses are expensive!”

Buying online offers glasses at greatly reduced prices, but without the extra service. When buying eyeglasses online, there’s no one physically present to help you choose a frame or tell you about different lens materials. You are generally on your own to learn about your options and select your “perfect” pair of glasses. Guides and other resources can aid you, but only so much as you seek them out and apply the information.

2. Market size is much smaller for retail stores

Another major factor in the cost difference is that online retailers have nationwide reach, whereas local opticians and other retailers are limited to their geographic market. This forces opticians to spread overhead out over less pairs being sold. Adam sums it up nicely:

Fast forward a few years. The internet democratizes information, levels the playing field, and allows for some real competition in the eyewear industry. Beyond this, companies could reach a worldwide customer base and could rely on an eye examination done elsewhere. Technology smoothed the process of providing a custom product to hundreds of thousands of consumers, and the once specialized, individualized experience of buying glasses from an individual, highly-paid eye doctor, became simply a matter of filling an order.

By providing greater access to information and greater market reach, online retailers are able to reduce per-pair transaction costs and are able to spread out overhead over a wider customer base.

3. Designer brands are expensive for opticians, too

The last reason glasses are so expensive at traditional stores is the cost of designer brands. Many opticians sell non-designer brands as well, but like with other items, people are paying for the label when they go the designer route.

What you may not realize is that independent opticians are also paying extra just to carry the label–and their cost for designer frames is often hundreds of dollars. In order to cover costs, opticians need to mark up the expensive-to-stock designer brands.

Buying generic saves money–simple as that. But this issue comes down to individual choice–is it worth it to you to buy designer?

I once went to buy a new pair of glasses and the sales person asked me what brand I was currently wearing–I had no idea. It wasn’t until I took my glasses off and read the small print on the inside that I realized they were Brooks Brothers frames, and I had been wearing them for years. I suspect this is the case for many.

We’d love to hear your comments:

• When do you feel you can do without an optician’s service? When do you really need it?
• And do you think designer glasses all they’re cut up to be?

Update: I’ve gotten a couple of comments to the effect that online glasses are cheaper because they are low quality. While I can’t speak for all of them, the ones that I’ve personally purchased from have been equal in quality to the glasses I’ve purchased from retail stores. The frame, the lenses and the coatings were all of good quality. And for us specifically, I can tell you that we use a lab based in the U.S. and purchase frames from U.S. vendors, same as many opticians. It’s possible there are other online retailers out there who are using poorer quality lenses, untrained workers or low quality frame materials, but that hasn’t been my experience. In general, glasses are not more expensive at retail stores because they are higher quality, with the exception of ultra-high-end progressive lens styles and digitally-surfaced progressives.

Related posts:

1. Interview with Ira Mitchell of GlassyEyes fame over at Scavenging