To: WSFAlist at WSFA.org
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 07:06:54 -0400
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Good Glasses Cheap
From: ronkean at juno.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 06:21:06 -0400 Steve Smith <sgs at aginc.net> writes:
> Keith F. Lynch wrote:
... Glasses for nearsightedness ("minus"
> > diopters) require a prescription, and inexplicably cost an order
> > of magnitude more.
>
> Indeed.  When I was wearing contact lenses and my near vision
> started to go, my optometrist recommended the "drugstore" glasses.
Under $10,
> if I remember correctly.
>

"Drugstore" reading glasses can sometimes be found at dollar stores,
priced at only $1.  There is a good reason why distance glasses are much
more expensive than off the shelf reading glasses.  There are only a half
dozen or so diopter ratings for off the shelf reading glasses, so they
can be manufactured, handled, and stocked like a commodity item.
Distance glasses are made to finer gradations of diopter rating, and they
provide astigmatism correction (most people have measurably astigmatic
vision), and astigmatism correction has two dimensions of specification
(axis and cylinder) so the number of different possible grindings might
be in the thousands, ranging up to hundreds of thousands or even millions
if one accounts for the variety of frames, more if one counts bifocals
and trifocals.  A quick check of the 'Hour Eyes' web site shows they
claim to offer over 1500 frame styles.  Obviously there are too many
different possible prescription lens grindings to stock, so each pair of
distance glasses is custom made and is therefore understandably more
expensive than off the shelf, by the principle of economy of scale.

If people could be persuaded to select their distance glasses from a
stock set of half a dozen or so diopter ratings, with no customization
for left eye versus right eye, and with no correction for astigmatism,
and with a very limited selection of frame styles, then distance glasses
could be much cheaper to buy that way.  In theory, one could visit a
drugstore, peer into a self-service optometric machine, twiddle some
dials to get an approximate measurement of one's vision, and walk out
with glasses in minutes.

In fact, I think the Lions Club has a program to supply glasses to people
in need in very poor countries.  They take donated used eyeglasses and
sort them to obtain a reasonable fit for those who could not otherwise
afford glasses.

Still, Keith may be on to something with the notion that distance glasses
cost 'inexplicably' more.  My impression is that opticians have
conditioned the public to believe that good glasses are necessarily
expensive, much as funeral directors have sought to keep funerals and
caskets as high priced as they can possibly be within the limits of what
people can generally afford to pay, just as jewellers and the DeBeers
cartel have spent the past century convincing people that gem quality
diamonds are more valuable than they would presumably be without all the
hype.  DeBeers helpfully suggests that a diamond engagement ring should
cost 'about two month's salary'.

In Rockville, it's easy to find glasses offered at about $200 per pair,
and up.  It is possible get decent prescription glasses in Montgomery
County for as little as $50 a pair, not counting the cost of an eye exam,
though it sometimes takes a two for one deal to achieve a price that low.
 So in that sense, $39 glasses from an internet based vendor might in
fact be a good deal.  But when I looked at that web site, I was
disappointed to find that all of the glasses they sell have plastic
lenses.  They do not offer glass lenses.  Plastic presumably scratches
more easily than glass.

For those who travel a lot, one way to save money on glasses might be to
simply buy them in a city which has a low cost of living but which is
large enough to have a competitive number of opticians.  Probably the
retail price of glasses is cheaper in Kansas City than in Malibu, and
cheaper still in Delhi.  One thing to keep in mind when buying
prescription glasses is to have them checked by an optometrist to verify
that they do indeed conform to the correct prescription.  The optometrist
who provided the original prescription should be willing to do that
without charge, as it is quick and easy to do.

Ron Kean

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