Should a pair of spectacles cost more than a pair of EL34s?

dcmeigs

I went down to my local eyeglass retail shop to get a pair of prescription shades. The flight surgeon says I can't fly anymore without them; he's right. I was shocked to find they cost about $500 plus exam.

I have a pair of regular glasses I use for sporting events that I bought in Thailand. Really nice spring titanium frames, the kind only a rich farang could afford. I think they were about $60 or $70 with exam.

So I'm thinking, why should they be so damn expensive. Is there anything about the manufacture of a pair of eyeglasses that is more expensive to produce than say a pair of pentodes? Everything else is available at wholesale pricing on the internet, why not eyeglasses?

Sure enough, I found several outlets and settled on this one. $28 shipped from California. Frames, lenses, coating and tinting. Pulled the money from the beer budget instead of the vacation fund.

So I'm feeling pretty good about myself right about now. If they arrive in a Cracker Jacks box, I'll let you know.

thsmith

Probably to brand and add ons for the shades is why they would cost $500.

$20 somethings shipped seems to good to be tru and it probably is.

Being that you are pilot and it's your eyes I would want the best I could afford.

danger boy

my friends eye glasses cost $850

ahh-mazing to me that glasses cost that much. it was the frames, not the glass

treitz3

From start to finish, my lenses were $750.00 at the beginning of the year. Not worth it IMO, seeing as how the only add on was the scratch resistant lenses. I can see though. I'm sure other drivers, pedestrians, dogs, cats, rodents, jaywalkers and kids appreciate that.

eeagle

Well I'm wearing a pair of glasses from Zenni Optical as I type....the prescription matches perfectly to my more expensive pair I bought locally, and they were a fraction of the cost.

I would order from the again. The retail eyeglass marketplace just has too many middle men. It is quite easy to measure your size and pupil placement....one can likely do a better job than than some of the folks who measure at your local store.

dcmeigs

eeagle wrote: »

It is quite easy to measure your size and pupil placement....one can likely do a better job than than some of the folks who measure at your local store.

My wife measured my PD, pupil distance, with a digital micrometer at 61 mm. I had that checked at the optometrist who wrote the full prescription and she came up with 60.5.

sucks2beme

My wife went to the place insurance covers, big bucks.
About 2x what the old place she used was. I don't get it.
It seems the eye coverage steers you toward the most
expensive places on the planet. After the deductible
the the cost was the same as no coverage at the old place,
so she bought them there. WTF?

cfrizz

Yup it costs me a small fortune to replace my lenses in my glasses. I have 2 pairs of multifocals that I have to make sure they have the correct prescription in so that's about $800 right there. Then right now I have to have a 1 pair of readers, that's another $200. So all told it will cost me over $1000 to replace my lenses.

Fortunately my eyes have settled down so I haven't had to change my prescription for over 4 years. Thank God!

Polkersince85

It's a shame your arms don't get longer the older you get. Nothing wrong with the Zenni units. My insurance cost is $37 plus the exam. That's about the cost of an upgraded Zenni unit.

VR3

My step worked for an eye doctor --

I have 400 dollar glasses that I received at cost for a whopping 44 bucks.

cfrizz

Polkersince85 wrote: »

It's a shame your arms don't get longer the older you get. Nothing wrong with the Zenni units. My insurance cost is $37 plus the exam. That's about the cost of an upgraded Zenni unit.

LOL! I told that to one of our directors at work when she had a menu stretched out as far as her arms could go. I told her that her arms weren't going to grow any longer & it was time to see an eye doctor!

A few months later she told me how much better she could see with her new glasses.:D

scottyboy76

my wifes two purchases were flawless

i have heard that returns arent their thing really, but for this price?

she has a funky prescription, got no line bifocals, the lenses change to sunglasses in sun and have pretty stylish frames, under 70 buckx
s.

at for eyes before they were almost 500 bucks and were not a whit better.

glasses in brick and mortatr shops are a stone cold ripoff.

why do you think sears is in the business.

Gadabout

I spend a lot of time driving and wear decent sunglasses. That's the main reason I keep wearing contacts. Good sunglasses w a prescription are a small fortune.

I do have a couple pair of glasses. One pair I keep in the car if I loose a lens, the other is in the house for when I pull the lenses out every other weekend.

I have no complaints, with the lenses, frames or service I received from EyeBuyDirect.com. The decent pair of glasses with titanium flex frames, ground for thinner lens, UV, Glare and scratch coatings was about $50 for the pair. The ones in the car are a bit cheaper. 2 pairs of glasses shipped to me for $78.

The eye exam for the scrip was covered by insurance w/ the exception of the $20 co-pay.

Scott

F1nut

Exam, real nice frames and real glass (photo brown), not that plastic crap....$300.00.

quadzilla

You can get sports glasses that use a clip-in for the prescription lenses. At least, I assume the reason they're so much is that you're having prescription lenses put right in the frames. That's the expensive way to go. Going the way I suggest will reduce your costs a fair bit, though they won't be cheap. I picked up some Rudy Projects for 175, but with insurance, the clip in was only another 25. And when my prescription changes, I don't have to spend another 2-300 on a new pair of lenses, just the 25 for new lenses for the clip in.