I am 2-3 months new into eyeglass shopping, i waited until my old frames were falling apart after a long time before starting to shop and get new frames.
Ive been to [a certain big name retailer], attracted by their 30% off sale, and then their 50% off sale this past month. What i found was that the frames I was looking at were listed for sale at about $100 over suggested retail price. For instance on a Ralph Lauren frame that i think has a retail price of about $250, the price at [the big name retailer] was $350. Also their prices on lenses is high too. But, then you get 30% off (eyeglasses plus lenses if you buy same time) if they have a sale or if you have just about any medical insurance card. More recently they had a 50% off sale, which i thought meant 2 for 1, but it only meant 50% off on the frames (at high prices) if you buy the lenses too (at high prices). So the bottom line is usually the same price after sales it seems. Also you have to go very high near the top of their lens options before you hit the high index plastic lenses, most of the lenses they sell are cheaper polycarb. Another local chain has big signs and ads about $40 exams, and 2 pairs of eyeglasses for $99 and whatnot. I quickly found out that if you want a name brand frame, its listed for sale about $100 over suggested retail price (ie a Rayban frame for $300 that has a retail of $200) and if you need high index lenses (or god forbid progressive) then its a lot more than $99 for a pair or two. Then i saw online a lot of the online stores have very discounted prices on name brand eyeglass frames, but if you look at the prices of their lenses (ie for high index progressive with an AR) the price on the lenses is often almost high, i found as local discounted opticians (after i found ones local that discounted.) The online stores selling chinese no name frames and chinese no name lenses have the best prices of course, but i generally dont like the frames much (from what i can see online) and having a high index progressive rx, i find some of the online stores dont sell high index progressive lenses, or if they do, im concerned about getting them online because of the lack of seg height measurements. So in terms of retail tactics i think i understand a lot more now than i did a few months ago and i can shop looking for good deals on quality stuff, knowing how the tactics work now. [A big name shopping store with general merchandise] near me has a 2 for 1 sale now and im tempted but their best lenses are high index polycarb which are only 1.59 index so im concerned the lenses will be thick with my rx. Another thing ive noticed is that when i look at name brand frames for sale at [a big name retailer], a lot of them I find (later when i look online) are recently discontinued frames. The problem with that is that if i buy one and want another pair later (for backup or if when i break the first) they may be unavailable. So yes i agree theres some games playign with retail tactics. Whether its somethign actionable by a govt agency, i dont know. I dont know if there's any law against selling frames with prices listed at $100 over the manufacturer's suggested retail price and not telling the customer that. I understand there's safety regulations in the US about selling sunglasses without UV, and also selling glass lenses unless they meet some safety standard, and i think those are very important things but i dont know the details. One thing that i do find annoying is I understand from what I ive read online that photochromatic plastic lenses have a general history of detoriating in terms of being able to get clear indoors, by as much as 20% or more within 3 years, and also they dont get dark inside cars (because cars have uv protection on the glass), also not all brands and models will get really clear indoors to start with, and these points were not made known to me by a local store before i was foolish enough to buy one of these types of lenses, that fortunately i was able to return. I think there should be some sort of disclosure of these points. On Apr 1, 7:53�am, Chuck Knight <[email protected]> wrote: > Yeah, that's *just* what we need. �More government interference in > private business. �To quote Reagan, "more government isn't the > solution to the problem...more government *is* the problem." > > I agree that monopolies are a bad thing (except for natural > monopolies) but my approach to ending them is the introduction of > viable alternatives. �The online option is completely viable, and is > showing a growth rate that has them running scared. > > Who, a year ago, would have believed that WalMart Optical would be > selling glasses for $38, or Sears Optical for $50? �Those price points > are positioned to directly compete with the online sites...and both > stores are members of Luxottica. > > � � �-- Chuck Knight > > > > On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 6:48 PM, Glenn <[email protected]> wrote: > > How many of you here think what big corporations that control the > > insurance, frame making and sale of said frames is an "unfair trade > > practice"? �I just have the impression that the "optical world" has > > gone completely unnoticed by Congress, FTC and other oversight > > groups. �Anyone else agree??? > > > Not sure how to get a campaign started, but I'd like to share my > > thoughts with my Congress-person (not very eloquent when it comes to > > writing folks of power). > > > -- > > Check us out at the oft-updatedhttp://glassyeyes.blogspot.com! > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "GlassyEyes" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected] > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/glassyeyes?hl=en > > > To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- Check us out at the oft-updated http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com! 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