The Catholic Message Board

In October 2022, I got my first pair of prescription glasses, bifocals, with a bunch of enhancements like a blue light filter and a special non-scratch coating, after my insurance was applied, they cost me $450. I first noticed problems with my vision in 2013, but not being able to afford prescription glasses, I made do with cheap reading glasses until I could afford a prescription pair.

In February this year, for my birthday, I got a coupon for $50% off a new pair, my prescription did not change, but I figured it could be useful to have more than one pair, in case something happened to my main pair, I got everything exactly the same, same prescription, same enhancements, and I was told that after my 50% discount, the cost was $406, after the 50% discount. In a little more than a year, the price of my glasses jumped from $450 to $812, nearly double. I balked at the price and asked to remove the special coating and the blue light filter, and after stripping everything down and applying my insurance, they cost me $226. This means that without the 50% discount, they would cost $452, or more than I paid in Oct 2022 for glasses with all the extras.

Why did the cost increase so much in such a short time, this is not a result of inflation, the increase is several times greater than inflation.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

I haven't bought glasses for probably 4 or 5 years, but I just got a new prescription and will be getting a new pair soon. They were going to cost be $500-something after my insurance discount. Previously, I've always bought at cheap places like Costco, and paid a lot less than that, but this time I priced them at the eye doctor's place. So I don't know how the prices actually compare, since it's really not apples to apples. I know it's an awful lot, though.

I've only used Zenni to buy glasses for a decade. I have bifocals, I have BAD eyes. I have NEVER paid over $100 for a pair of glasses from Zenni, and have often paid less. They have frames that start under $10.

Reason for price increases? Because they can.

Kage_ar wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:24 am
Reason for price increases? Because they can.

It is never that simple, they cannot just charge whatever they like or people will go elsewhere or just not buy at all. No one is a captive or being forced to buy.

For people who are not in abject poverty, simply going without eyeglasses is not an option. These folks are going to pay for the glasses because they need to and it is shocking that people are afraid to purchase online.


From my research, only two brands of frames are manufactured in the US - Shuron and Randolph -

https://shop.shuron.com/

https://www.randolphusa.com/collections/frame-of-choice

The rest are imports, so, the reasons for increases in imported items are varied

https://youtu.be/CAeHuDcy_bY?feature=shared

Zenni is the way to go.

FJ