Glasses are also absurdly expensive for what they are (maybe this is a US thing). Contacts are also expensive, but you can sort of appreciate the manufacturing challenge.
That's why I order mine online from Zenni. I've heard reports of some quality control before and I've had one pair come that was a bit off, but I've still saved an ridiculous amount of money as someone who loses glasses constantly. I just ordered a pair that was ~$50 and a lot of that was just expedited shipping. I made no attempt to find the cheapest frames/lenses either like a lot of the ads for normal discount glasses show. Oh, and that's WITHOUT insurance.
I have no idea why they're so expensive at most vendors. It shouldn't be cheaper for me to order glasses without insurance. That said, the cost breakdown I saw from Zenni definitely showed that the major cost was for the lenses and given that they seem to be the cheapest vendor, I suspect they're actually telling the truth. Lenses seem to be pretty complex as well to manufacture, even for simple prescriptions.
My impression of Zenni / EyeBuyDirect is also not great. Sure, they are inexpensive, but they are also flimsy. When I tried them, the pairs I got caused pretty bad discomfort, too.
My wife used to make me get the “best” glasses from boutique stores because average places like LensCrafters never suited me. Average price from boutiques about $1300 in the 2010s. I have -4.50 vision and need bifocals.
Tried Zenni about 12 years ago. Best lenses ever by far. Also the best style for me—$30/pair. My kid’s glasses are $9/pair but would be $7 without custom engraving.
from wikipedia: Luxottica retails its products through stores that it owns, predominantly LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, Target Optical, and Glasses.com. It also owns EyeMed, one of the largest vision health insurance providers. In addition to licensing prescription and non-prescription sunglasses frames for many luxury and designer brands including Chanel, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, Michael Kors, Coach, Miu Miu and Tory Burch,[8] the Italian conglomerate further outright owns and manufactures Ray-Ban, Persol, Oliver Peoples, and Oakley...In March 2018, the European Commission unconditionally approved the merger of Essilor and Luxottica.[14] On 1 October 2018, the new holding company EssilorLuxottica was born, resulting in combined market capitalization of approximately $70 billion.[15] The merger with Essilor additionally gave Luxottica control of Foster Grant and Costa Del Mar, sunglasses brands acquired by Essilor prior to the merger
Now, I'm not an expert on European regulation, but I do get a lot of good information from Europeans here on HN, and I'd guess that the EC approved the merger because the company respects the GDPR
They’re pretty expensive here in France, too, and the famous “free healthcare” only covers a small fraction of the cost. The rest is out of pocket if you don’t carry some other form of insurance, usually through your employer.
