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Solo1 said:
Don’t feel bad i went for glasses and got an eyelash in my eye the eye doc charged me $100 to pick up a pair of tweezers and take it out!
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Gotta laugh at that, several months ago on a Sunday, I had something blown in my eye in a parking lot. Just happened to be an eye doctor there walking out of the store. He saw me tearing up badly and introduced himself, looked at my eye and said to come with him to his office, closed on sunday's, which was on the other end of the parking lot. He took out the particle, irrigated my eye and after inspecting it gave me some eye drops and said to make an appointment if I feel anything after a day. Didn't care about insurance, didn't want cash, didn't want forms/name/etc.., just shook my hand and said to have a good day.
 
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karl_h said:
Gotta laugh at that, several months ago on a Sunday, I had something blown in my eye in a parking lot. Just happened to be an eye doctor there walking out of the store. He saw me tearing up badly and introduced himself, looked at my eye and said to come with him to his office, closed on sunday's, which was on the other end of the parking lot. He took out the particle, irrigated my eye and after inspecting it gave me some eye drops and said to make an appointment if I feel anything after a day. Didn't care about insurance, didn't want cash, didn't want forms/name/etc.., just shook my hand and said to have a good day.
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Now that is a doctor!
 
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johnwoitalla said:
How can a scope or a pair of binoculars cost less than my new eye glasses? Today I spent over 5 C notes to get new prescription lenses put into my frames. There is one piece of plastic per lens in my glasses made with what I assume is a computer controlled lens cutter, and I would not be surprised if they are made in just a few minutes. Whereas a decent middle of the road scope has a milled air craft aluminum tube, multiple highly polished multi coated glass lenses, seals, nitrogen purging, tens to hundreds of tiny precision made parts, and who knows what else it takes to make a middle of the road scope. Really, I am just venting here. I know pretty much it is about the market place. But come on! If a scope can be made for that cheap, then why do I have to pay so dang much for eye glasses?
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You've touched on something that frustrates many of us. The apparent contradiction comes down to fundamental differences between these markets. Optical companies operate in a near-monopoly environment where a handful of corporations control everything from frames to insurance billing, allowing massive markups on what are essentially $8 lenses. Meanwhile, scope manufacturers exist in a brutally competitive field where companies constantly undercut each other's prices just to stay relevant.

Adding to the irony, your prescription lenses actually require more precise engineering than most mid-range scopes. Each pair is custom-ground to your unique vision needs, while rifle optics use standardized components mass-produced by the thousands. The medical device classification also piles on regulatory costs you don't see in the firearms industry.

At the end of the day, eyeglass pricing reflects a broken system, while scope costs demonstrate what happens when genuine market forces prevail. Doesn't make writing that $500 check any easier though!
 
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student said:
I once purchased prescription eyeglasses from a local optometry shop and paid a fortune.....The following year I needed a new prescription and I somewhat reluctantly went to Costco. Their glasses and service has been more than fine. I get an annual comprehensive vision examination at the ophthalmology department at the medical school which is thankfully local to us. Insurance covers most of that cost.

It has now been quite a few years and remain pleased with the quality and service of prescription eye glasses I've purchased from Costco. I don't think I've ever paid more than $250 all total....I do carry vision insurance so that helps as well.

I'm not very fashion conscious and tend to gravitate toward lower cost albeit light weight frames...they generally have a satisfactory collection from which to choose. If i recall correctly the last few frames I purchased ran between $89 and $99. I always opt for the better quality lenses and the higher grade of transition lenses. This of course accounts for a bit of additional cost. Periodically Costco will run promotions like an extra set for an additional $99 or so.
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In fact my exam was at Costco. I did not buy my new lenses from them because they needed to keep my frames and I didn’t have a spare with me, so I went to my regular shop where they have my records.
 
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tommyb said:
My wife and I both just had our annual eye exams. Both of us have progressive lenses with stigmatism's. After VSP insurance the ”out of pocket” costs were $1100, for just the lenses at Triangle Visions. We kept our old frames.

Looking forward to Cataract surgery in a few years.
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You'll still need glasses, unless you get the 'variable' lenses implanted. The, IMHO, huge downside is they are permanent once inserted so if the doctor twitches a bit you're off, they are also more expensive, by a bunch. They also, apparently, want you to do a few extra procedures to get the lenses nailed like sanding down your corneas. My wife went through this process, our Optometrist who is DARN GOOD, said to just get plain vanilla lenses and wear glasses for minor corrections. We followed his advice and kept it simple, one eye down, one to go. Sadly my Dr. say's my cataracts aren't that bad, I beg to differ with her. I'll be spending another handful of money on new glasses so I can read the fine print that is now, well, microprint, or going outside my HMO to get surgery.
 
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HogKiller said:
You'll still need glasses, unless you get the 'variable' lenses implanted. The, IMHO, huge downside is they are permanent once inserted so if the doctor twitches a bit you're off, they are also more expensive, by a bunch. They also, apparently, want you to do a few extra procedures to get the lenses nailed like sanding down your corneas. My wife went through this process, our Optometrist who is DARN GOOD, said to just get plain vanilla lenses and wear glasses for minor corrections. We followed his advice and kept it simple, one eye down, one to go. Sadly my Dr. say's my cataracts aren't that bad, I beg to differ with her. I'll be spending another handful of money on new glasses so I can read the fine print that is now, well, microprint, or going outside my HMO to get surgery.
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Yeah, my Optometrist said the same. She had some paitients get the more expensive lenses and they complained. It doesn’t always work. Apparently It can be a bit tricky/delicate proceess and my VSP doesn’t cover it anyway.

If/when I do have the cateract surgery, I’m going with normal surgery. Not having to wear glasses permanently for ‘distance’ will be a big relief. I can use the readers for reading, np.
 
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tommyb said:
Yeah, my Optometrist said the same. She had some paitients get the more expensive lenses and they complained. It doesn’t always work. Apparently It can be a bit tricky/delicate proceess and my VSP doesn’t cover it anyway.

If/when I do have the cateract surgery, I’m going with normal surgery. Not having to wear glasses permanently for ‘distance’ will be a big relief. I can use the readers for reading, np.
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You may not need to if the stars align.
 
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Yeah, eyeglasses sales is a racket. They charge monstrous prices. You can do much better online. I had cataract surgery and even then, I need a tiny bit of distance correction and of course, reading lenses. My glasses cost $700 locally, and $130 online,...go figure.

I agree with the above, don't go for the latest greatest lenses for implants. My surgeon who has done thousands of cataract implants, told me, they only work on a nearly perfect, to begin with, eye and most others will not be happy. My plain old lens implants didn't hit right on like I was led to believe/told, but I do see better. I still need minor corrections, and I'm darn glad I didn't opt for a more expensive implant, which wouldn't have hit any closer. I would have really been upset.
 
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When it comes to "glass" (lenses), you get what you pay for... whether it's telescopes, binoculars, rifle scopes, or eye glasses.

There are TREMENDOUS differences in quality of lenses. Furthermore, there's Chinese glass... Japanese glass... German glass.

You can spend a LOT more than $500 on a quality pair of binoculars. Thousands. Same goes with riflescopes... You can spend $100, $400, $600, $1000 and $5000 or more. You pick!

When it comes to anything medical, overhead is much more (on a percentage basis) for a private care health office than it is a big factory that can leverage huge economies of scale. They assembly-line those cheap binoculars (and likely in China). Your top-tier prescription CUSTOM glasses lenses are an entirely different thing.

About 6 months ao, I got my first pair of prescription glasses. I had a choice of "tiers" for my progressive lenses. There are NINE tiers. The optometry office I go to only deals with the top four. They won't even bother with the bottom five. Since it's my eyes, I didn't want anything but the top tier... the best. Just the lenses for my glasses were $900. Add another $300 for the frames... and we're at $1200. Just this week, I got some prescription Maui Jim sunglasses. About $900 for those.

I could have "saved money" by going online... or getting them from the VA. But the level of service I got at a private optometrist blows them out of the water. And I paid for it. My first set of glasses (progressives) were perfect right out of the gate. I'm very happy with them. So many people report problems with progressive glasses, from poor execution and quality control problems to just having a hard time getting used to them. I had none of that. No quality issues and it was used to them almost instantly.

Comparing prescription glasses to cheap binoculars is just not a logical pursuit, IMO.
 
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