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[ancistrus]

Hi, I need glasses and I just discovered they are ridiculously expensive. I am not exactly broke ... but I just dont understand why I should pay 400 EUR for some pieces of glass joined together by some plastic or metal or whatever that probably cost about 3 EUR in raw materials. Google search suggested this is a result of a world wide monopoly and possibly lizard people or something.

Do any of you know a way to get glasses more cheaply? Especially since i am 100% sure I am gonna lose them or break them within 6 months...

[Ulfarr]

I don't know where you live and if it's applicable to your case but if you have access to some form of social security/public healthcare they can usually cover part of the expenses. (That's the case in Greece at least)

As for the price itself, a huge part of it is for the "skeleton". If you want some super lightweight skeleton that is going to be expensive as hell but it will also be extremely comfortable when you'll have to use those glasses for 10+ hours each day. Maybe you can try different ones to find one that is cheaper but still comfortable.

[nenjin]

Maybe try Zennioptical. It's a Chinese company, direct-to-customer eyeglass thingy. I built a pair of sunglasses through their website and more or less went all out and spent $200 about 2 years ago, and I've been pretty pleased with them. I imagine they've gotten more expensive since then. Anyways, they do eyeglasses as well, big selection, you build your frame and options. You need your eyeglasses prescription specs too. It's pretty easy to at least build a quote of what you might want.

[quinnr]

Maybe try Zennioptical. It's a Chinese company, direct-to-customer eyeglass thingy. I built a pair of sunglasses through their website and more or less went all out and spent $200 about 2 years ago, and I've been pretty pleased with them. I imagine they've gotten more expensive since then. Anyways, they do eyeglasses as well, big selection, you build your frame and options. You need your eyeglasses prescription specs too. It's pretty easy to at least build a quote of what you might want.

I second this, they have some super affordable options and I've never had an issue with them. You just plop in the numbers on your eyeglass prescription and they mail them to you.

[C27]

Hi, I need glasses and I just discovered they are ridiculously expensive. I am not exactly broke ... but I just dont understand why I should pay 400 EUR for some pieces of glass joined together by some plastic or metal or whatever that probably cost about 3 EUR in raw materials. Google search suggested this is a result of a world wide monopoly and possibly lizard people or something.

Do any of you know a way to get glasses more cheaply? Especially since i am 100% sure I am gonna lose them or break them within 6 months...

I don't know where you live and if it's applicable to your case but if you have access to some form of social security/public healthcare they can usually cover part of the expenses. (That's the case in Greece at least)

As for the price itself, a huge part of it is for the "skeleton". If you want some super lightweight skeleton that is going to be expensive as hell but it will also be extremely comfortable when you'll have to use those glasses for 10+ hours each day. Maybe you can try different ones to find one that is cheaper but still comfortable.

They're not expensive because of the materials, they're expensive because of the precision milling and fitting that needs to be done *just right* to get them to work properly. There's a lot of specialist labor going into making them actually fit your eyes and give you good results.

I just had to order some new glasses myself - about $500USD counting the eye exam to make them actually accurate since my eyes have changed and I have astigmatism now. Considering that my last pair lasted me for over 15 years, that's really not a bad price in the long term - definitely cheaper than if I'd paid for vision insurance that whole time just to save maybe half the cost, for sure. I could have gone significantly cheaper, but I'd rather pay money for durability than pay money for emergency replacement if I didn't.

[Muz]

There are some places you can buy them online, but you have to know what you need. The website I had is down now. But it's a common business model to sell online; the shops take a huge cut of the price. E-commerce lets it skip having to open up shops for marketing and sell direct to the customer.