Posted by veg_all on December 14, 2006, 2:15 pm
I've been looking for new frames for eyeglasses. They seem to be
incredibly expensive for what's involved. What's going on? Is this
is a categorical ripoff or does it just involve some exotic processes
that I don't understand?
Metal frames are made from a number of pieces of metal with a few
welds or solder joints, then plated, coated, or painted with a
durable paint. The amount of metal involved is small (a fraction of
an ounce) and it's not a precious metal. The plating/coating
processes are conventional and not expensive. There is no extreme
precision required other than tapping for small screws, which are a
standard size (00-90). The number of parts is small--invariably
under 20 and often under 10. The number of joints is also
small--again, << 20. Yet the price (neglecting sales)
is $150-200.
If you want a frame made of something out of the ordinary, maybe
>$300 is believable for titanium, but >$150 for good ol' stainless
steel seems awfully high.
Economics: There are at least a dozen major frame manufacturers.
There are lots of shops--a dozen or more in this town (1e5
population). In other words, competition abounds. LOTS of people
wear glasses; quantities have to be high even with many styles and
sizes.
For the price of an average pair of frames, I could buy a good
microprocessor, a quality router, more than two cases of good beer
(:-), or various other things which seem to me to take a lot more
time and material to make and have comparable or lesser economies of
scale.
What am I missing? Why do they cost so much?
Posted by bungalow_steve on December 14, 2006, 2:37 pm
veg_all@yahoo.com wrote:
> I've been looking for new frames for eyeglasses. They seem to be
> incredibly expensive for what's involved. What's going on? Is this
> is a categorical ripoff or does it just involve some exotic processes
> that I don't understand?
> Metal frames are made from a number of pieces of metal with a few
> welds or solder joints, then plated, coated, or painted with a
> durable paint. The amount of metal involved is small (a fraction of
> an ounce) and it's not a precious metal. The plating/coating
> processes are conventional and not expensive. There is no extreme
> precision required other than tapping for small screws, which are a
> standard size (00-90). The number of parts is small--invariably
> under 20 and often under 10. The number of joints is also
> small--again, << 20. Yet the price (neglecting sales)
> is $150-200.
> If you want a frame made of something out of the ordinary, maybe
> >$300 is believable for titanium, but >$150 for good ol' stainless
> steel seems awfully high.
> Economics: There are at least a dozen major frame manufacturers.
> There are lots of shops--a dozen or more in this town (1e5
> population). In other words, competition abounds. LOTS of people
> wear glasses; quantities have to be high even with many styles and
> sizes.
> For the price of an average pair of frames, I could buy a good
> microprocessor, a quality router, more than two cases of good beer
> (:-), or various other things which seem to me to take a lot more
> time and material to make and have comparable or lesser economies of
> scale.
> What am I missing? Why do they cost so much?
mafia, they control the $2000 hearing aid business too
Posted by Bob Young on December 14, 2006, 6:03 pm
Same with contact lens. Think about it, a hunk of plastic ,worth about
a dime.
OK you want to pay the doctor for checking your eyes, but you've already
done that by paying for an eye exam.
Posted by Don K on December 14, 2006, 6:32 pm
> Same with contact lens. Think about it, a hunk of plastic ,worth about
> a dime.
> OK you want to pay the doctor for checking your eyes, but you've already
> done that by paying for an eye exam.
Well there are a lot of processing and quality-control issues that go
into delivering those hunks of plastic to you so that when you stick
them in your eyes, you don't go blind from infections and what-not.
But getting back to eyeglasses, I don't see why some smart entrepreneur doesn't
market simple reading glasses with interchangeable strength lenses at a
drugstore price.
Don
Posted by Rod Speed on December 14, 2006, 6:10 pm
veg_all@yahoo.com wrote
> I've been looking for new frames for eyeglasses. They seem
> to be incredibly expensive for what's involved. What's going on?
Usual ripoff stuff.
> Is this is a categorical ripoff
Yep.
> or does it just involve some exotic processes that I don't understand?
Nope, cant be when you can get $9 complete frames and lenses.
http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php
> Metal frames are made from a number of pieces of metal with a few
> welds or solder joints, then plated, coated, or painted with a
> durable paint. The amount of metal involved is small (a fraction of
> an ounce) and it's not a precious metal. The plating/coating
> processes are conventional and not expensive. There is no extreme
> precision required other than tapping for small screws, which are a
> standard size (00-90). The number of parts is small--invariably
> under 20 and often under 10. The number of joints is also
> small--again, << 20. Yet the price (neglecting sales) is $150-200.
Only from the ripoff merchants.
> If you want a frame made of something out of the
> ordinary, maybe >$300 is believable for titanium,
Nope, its not that expensive.
> but >$150 for good ol' stainless steel seems awfully high.
Indeed, classic ripoff.
> Economics: There are at least a dozen major frame manufacturers.
> There are lots of shops--a dozen or more in this town (1e5 population).
> In other words, competition abounds. LOTS of people wear glasses;
> quantities have to be high even with many styles and sizes.
There's plenty of operations flogging complete frames and lenses for $19-40 etc.
> For the price of an average pair of frames, I could buy a good
> microprocessor, a quality router, more than two cases of good beer
> (:-), or various other things which seem to me to take a lot more time
> and material to make and have comparable or lesser economies of scale.
> What am I missing?
That there's plenty of operations flogging complete frames and lenses for $9-40
etc.
> Why do they cost so much?
Because they can. Many have them covered by their insurance.
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