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Thread: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

  1. #1

    Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    haven't bought glasses for a while but when I last did, the frames cost just shy of £200. Ok, I bought 'designer' frames .. but really, how can manufacturers get away with charging so much for so little (no "Rolex have mastered the art" comments necessary ;) )?

    Obviously a bit ranty today :)

  2. #2

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    It's a fashion thing - so prices easy to justify.
    Always gone for two for one pairs at Specsavers.
    The most expensive ones mind.
    2nd pair recently were wrap around sunglasses which looked pretty cool with yellow tint ( if a litlle Ali G )

    P.S. Was that an Ok post..

  3. #3

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Its a great question. I have bought several pairs of designer glasses online and saved a lot of money. Last pair were 450 (with super thin lenses)from the hugh street but 220 all in online. Its worh a go as long as you have you prescription and pupil distance measurement

  4. #4

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    i used http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/ after a bad high st experience, same as you £200. Glassesdirect are good, the quality is excellent and a great pair cost £25. Good customer service too. You can order a useful paper catalogue from the website. No i don't work for them!

  5. #5

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Quote Originally Posted by vulcangascompany
    i used http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/ after a bad high st experience, same as you £200. Glassesdirect are good, the quality is better than high st in my experience and a great pair cost £25. Good customer service too. You can order a useful paper catalogue from the website. No i don't work for them!
    Thanks for this lead, I will remember for next time.

    As for why they are so expensive, well I guess its all down to supply and demand. I personally treat my glasses like my watches, as in they are a 'fashion' accessory that is a way of showing part of my personality. May sound like b*llocks but when you spend so much money on an essential then it has to be justified!

  6. #6
    Journeyman
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    This is who i use

    http://www.goggles4u.co.uk

    i think my last pair from here cost me 19 quid delivered

  7. #7

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Thats phenomenal..I might just buy a pair for every day at those prices!

  8. #8
    Grand Master Griswold's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I just don't get this 'designer' business.

    FFS, all spectacle frames are designed, they don't just happen!!!! Same with clothes.... They're all designed by designers!!!!!!!!

    People who pay extra - just for the name need their brains examining. :twisted:

    People who need to have the manufacturers name prominently displayed on the outside need serious help. :twisted: :twisted:








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  9. #9

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Point taken - the problem is that all of the non 'designer' frames looked like a puddle of p!ss, so unless I wanted to look even more stupid than normal, I'd have to pony up ...

  10. #10

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Quote Originally Posted by jeromeo
    Always gone for two for one pairs at Specsavers.
    The most expensive ones mind.
    Ditto
    Andy

    Wanted - Damasko DC57

  11. #11
    Grand Master GraniteQuarry's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    It's the lenses that are the expensive bit!! Last ones i got - from mega-cheap Costco! - were circa £220, the f-ing glass was like £170 on its tod!!

  12. #12

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Quote Originally Posted by jeromeo
    It's a fashion thing - so prices easy to justify.
    Always gone for two for one pairs at Specsavers.
    The most expensive ones mind.
    2nd pair recently were wrap around sunglasses which looked pretty cool with yellow tint ( if a litlle Ali G )

    P.S. Was that an Ok post..

    Superb :wink: :lol:

    I have a University mate who's an optician on the Isle of Man - he makes mine up at cost price 8) but doing the prescriptions is a faff ........

  13. #13
    Master oldandgrumpy's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Traditionally the high street had a monopoly on the sale of glasses and still does, even with online competition.
    The simple fact is, to find a pair that suit you, glasses really needs to be tried on, which obviously cannot be done online. Online stores may well have a 'try before you buy' policy but there's no substitute for asking the nice lass, ' Do these suit me? ' (that's what I do anyway ) (I'll change my watch to colour co-ordinate what I'm wearing so I may be an exception)

    Let's face it, a pair of glasses will be the purchase you use the most and reflect the image you wish to portray, so it's important to get it right

  14. #14
    Master ingenioren's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Simple, markup, markup and markup !

    Why so many opticians on our highstreets I wonder :roll more prolific than estate agents :twisted:

  15. #15
    Master
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    When i pick my glasses I try and choose the ones that suit me. No one can read the make down the side of the frame anyway.

  16. #16
    Thomas Reid
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Why is it so hard to find any that aren't narrow little rectangles, which make me look like a demented racoon?

    Best wishes,
    Bob

  17. #17
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I recently got a new pair, its that long since I bought a pair I thought the price on the glasses was the all in one! How wrong was I. Buy the time I'd paid for the frames, lenses and that Nikon shine stopper stuff I was charged shy of 300 notes. Am in the wrong business!!

  18. #18
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Designer con from A to Z :evil: :evil:

  19. #19
    Grand Master Carlton-Browne's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Quote Originally Posted by rfrazier
    Why is it so hard to find any that aren't narrow little rectangles, which make me look like a demented racoon?

    Best wishes,
    Bob
    That's rather unfortunate Bob - that style is very popular in Germany and most think it makes them look rather more intellectual. Next time a friend or colleague gets a new pair I shall have to remember the demented racoon analogy.
    In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.

  20. #20
    Thomas Reid
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Quote Originally Posted by Carlton-Browne
    Quote Originally Posted by rfrazier
    Why is it so hard to find any that aren't narrow little rectangles, which make me look like a demented racoon?

    Best wishes,
    Bob
    That's rather unfortunate Bob - that style is very popular in Germany and most think it makes them look rather more intellectual. Next time a friend or colleague gets a new pair I shall have to remember the demented racoon analogy.
    I dropped a "c" in raccoon. Just goes to show that they aren't any good for intellectual work. ;)

    Best wishes,
    Bob

  21. #21
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    cheap as chips in primark reading glasses that is :wink:

  22. #22

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Go to the far east, take a holiday, buy a cheap decent pair of specs. Happy!!

  23. #23

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Quote Originally Posted by e68y
    Go to the far east, take a holiday, buy a cheap decent pair of specs. Happy!!
    Totally. Walked into a branch of a big chain of opticians in HK last week. Me and my missus had our eyes tested instantly, for free and with no appointment. Optician then sold her a year's supply of contact lenses for less than half UK price, despite the exchange rate. I ordered a pair of Oakley shades with prescription lenses - which UK opticians told me couldn't be glazed - for less than half the price of the other prescription Oakleys I got in London. They're being posted to me for free and the optician was deeply apologetic that they couldn't be made the same day.

    Are UK opticians taking the p+ss?

  24. #24
    Grand Master Mrcrowley's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Take it from me-anything medical is costly.
    Paul

    GOT...TO...KILL...CAPTAIN STUPID!

  25. #25
    Master
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Designer glasses are a marketing con, this is from someone who works in marketing.

    As long as the glasses look good on your face who cares what they say down the side in minute writing.

    There is a guy in my office who wears a pair of square raybans that make him look like Joe 90 but all he sees is the rayban label not the fact he looks like a total tit.

  26. #26
    Grand Master Mrcrowley's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I admit i wear h Boss but saw n liked before knowin what they were.
    Paul

    GOT...TO...KILL...CAPTAIN STUPID!

  27. #27

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Head to Selfridges, try them on and buy it from the bay!

  28. #28
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Good opticians make a fortune, especially if their catchment area is affluent since the mark-up on frames is fantastic before the add-ons they try and shift you for the lenses. The best thing is, its all outsourced. They're a glorified mouthpiece for lens, frame and contact lens manufacturers. OK they do eye tests but beyond the standard-issue test they'll send you to ophthalmics.

    Rant Over.

    If you do want nice shades, c lenses, ski goggles or designer lenses hit Costco. Good service and about half-price.

  29. #29
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I used to work in the IT department of at the time the biggest Highstreet optician in the UK. The markup on frames was bad enough, but the markup on lenses was astronomical. The blanks (they look like glass paperweights) that get machined down to your final prescription used to literally cost pennies, and sell for a couple of hundred quid, and the treatments (anti-scratch, anti-reflection) also used to cost pennies to apply. However, the equipment used to grind down the blanks and apply the treatments cost an absolute fortune to buy (anecdotally, I was told over a hundred grand, and that would be nearly 15 years ago). I can remember having to change the size of the gross profit margin fields on the computer system, because the lenses were giving more than 999%!

    I finally had to start wearing glasses all the time late last year, and mine cost £470. They have a very convincing argument in the stores... "Right, you can have two pairs of different glasses, one for reading, one for driving, or you can have these cheaper varifocals with thick lenses in them. Or, if you pay a bit extra, you can have these new all-singing-all-dancing ultra lightweight, ultra thin lenses that will instantly make you look like Brad Pitt and will chose the lottery numbers for you". At least, that's what I expected after forking out the thick end of £500 for them :shock:

  30. #30
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    My "free" pair from Optical Express ended up costing £180. Rab C Nesbitt wouldn't wear the standard free ones so it was frame upgrade, lens upgrade, transition lenses, etc.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  31. #31
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I'm well overdue for a new pair of glasses but as my perscription hasn't changed in years I just keep wearing the old pair, luckily they don't look too bad, it's not like they are held together Jack Duckworth style witha bandaid....

    I'm going to use the money I've saved not buying new glasses to buy laser eye treatment.......or new watches.... :wink:

  32. #32

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    My silhouettes cost just over £400 :shock: there is barely any materials used a titanium coat hanger and two bits of glass :shock: , the markup is huge but then again they have many exspenses stappf,rent blab blab and opticans are ten a penny so its probably still a great business

  33. #33

    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I think mine may be designer, cant recall, but look nice and plain in grey stainless. However since they are unequal varifocal, they had to 'bespoke' sort of. £750.
    Hell of a lot, but I had specific requirements, have to be able to read very tiny script, and wanted them light so they dont slip down my nose.

  34. #34
    Grand Master Mrcrowley's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    As I said anything you really NEED costs

    I'm sat in a wheelchair - cost £7500.
    Paul

    GOT...TO...KILL...CAPTAIN STUPID!

  35. #35
    Craftsman
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I wear glasses and occasionally contact lenses. Now those are expensive!

  36. #36
    Master
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I wanted a second pair to leave in the car for night driving, I didnt want to pay the earth as lets face it whos going to see me wearing them.

    So i got a pair made up on-line that were similar in style and size to my high street pair that I know suite me, cost me £25 insted of £200, it was a no brainer really.

  37. #37
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    My glasses I got online for £40 are probably 90% as good as my £300 frames. Also, buying contact lenses directly online has saved me hundreds over the last few years. It's well worth it to shop around online.

  38. #38
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    I got my prada frames from http://www.eyewearbrands.com
    They were £100 cheaper than in my local opticians!
    Fast delivery too

  39. #39
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Glasses are a rip off. I have started picking up frames from TKMax when I see decent ones. The frames are only ten or twenty quid and glassesdirect.com are pretty good. Last time I bought hilfiger? frames for ten quid and lenses from glasses direct for thirty.

  40. #40
    Master AM94's Avatar
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    Re: Why are glasses so f'king expensive?

    Isn't there something slightly ironic about watch obsessed people complaining about why designer glasses are so expensive?

    I can imagine on http://www.glasses-uk.com there is a thread about why watches need to be so expensive and that surely a £5.99 digital watch does the same job as a fancy Seiko, Citizen, Tag, Rolex, etc, etc. :wink:

    As I write this, I'm keeping in mind that Vision Express just spanked me for a new prescription and frames. Give me a shelf of frames, with no prices (or designer names on them) and the one I think looks best on me will always be one of the more expensive ones :roll:

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