Eyeglasses -- why so expensive?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Ok, first let me start off with a confession. I've done something very "un-Swiss": I've ordered cheap, made-in-China eyeglasses from an online shop in America and had them sent to me here in Zurich. My Swiss colleagues would probably recoil in horror at the thought...

I first checked in at a local boutique where we usually buy eyeglasses for our children, and was quoted a price of anywhere from 1'300 to 1'800 CHF for this prescription (progressive lenses). The shock sent me running to a big chain eyeglass store which quoted me a slightly better 700 to 1'200 -- but obviously for lower quality lenses and frames.

The pair I bought from this place in the States, which included their best-quality progressive lenses plus two flexible titanium frames, came to $125, including shipping and import duties. No, they're not high quality, but they're not that bad. I've bought top-quality eyeglasses at a boutique in the US before (the last pair lasted 8+ years) and paid around $250.

After living in CH for 10+ years I now generally agree with the argument that, up to a point, it's worth paying a premium for higher-quality products and services -- especially since we're fairly well off and generally can afford it. The last thing I'd want to see is Switzerland awash in wal-marts and cheap food outlets like my home town in the "rust belt". I gladly pay 2x to 3x what I might pay in the US, esp. for things produced here in Switzerland.

Anyway, I digress. What I'm wondering is, why are eyeglasses sooo expensive in Switzerland? Or are these prices comparable to other places in Europe? I know that the lenses and most of the frames I looked at here in CH were not Swiss-made. I could understand paying 2-3 times as much as the cheap Asian imports (that's what you typically see with manufactured goods), but this is more like 10 - 15 times.

2
You live in Switzerland, and you're asking why so expensive?

3
Type "cartel" in to Google....

4
You might want to look into what the Luxottica group owns... and then have a quick look at the term "monopoly".

5
Luxottica Group owns operations for eyewear at many points of the business, starting with frame manufacturing and "ending" with shops to purchase eyewear. While you may try to make that implication, it's not altogether correct as there are plenty of places in each area which are NOT owned or operated by them as well.

Also though... they do support having access to eyewear at a variety of price points. I worked for many years at LensCrafters , while they were never the cheapest place in town, they never were the most expensive either - and they had "complete package" eyewear for as little as $99.

I happen not to be a huge fan of the corporate animal BUT Luxottica is by far not the worst thing to have happened to "optical retailing" ever... LensCrafters was much worse for everyone (as in, employees as well as potential customers) when they were owned by a shoe corporation in the late 80s / early 90s.

Meanwhile, back to the "why so expensive" part about eyeglasses here, particularly compared to the US - here, everyone who works in an optical shop has been trained to become an optician / optical technician at some level.

From experience, I can tell you that that is not necessarily the case everywhere in the US. The first place I worked we were really not much better trained than any other retail shop clerk, the franchise owner only cared that we were young, cute, blond - and could sell, sell, sell.

The places that offer glasses so cheaply typically are selling "last year's" model frames or even discontinued ones. This isn't necessarily bad, it only is a problem if you want replacements as opposed to going with a new pair. Also, they typically use "seconds" of lenses... another thing which typically isn't horrible, very few people would ever know the difference as they're not flawed, they're simply not the highest quality.

So, finally... the difference between there vs here has to do with training and the quality of product offered. You CAN find things relatively inexpensive here (Fielmann carries frames for as low as about 20chf I believe) but in the end, you're still paying for a full staff of trained employees as opposed to majority of "sales clerk" with an optician or two on staff - who may or may not be working that day and who may or may not have taken a hand in ensuring the folks they are working with have some good knowledge as well.

6
Thanks Peg A, but this is generally true of most goods and services in Switzerland, e.g. a hairdresser is much better trained (and paid) than one in the US and probably most other places in the world. the same holds true of most professions and vocations. I'm all for that, and therefore I expect and accept that I have to pay a premium here in CH, which is often 2-3 times what I would pay in the US.

However eyeglasses are completely off the scale here, more like 10x more expensive. Even the cheapest, worst-quality lenses & frames bought here would have been well over 6x as expensive as the best-quality ones from this online shop (Zenni Optical, in case anyone wants to know). There seems to be something particular to eyeglasses which is wildly out of line with the cost of goods & services in general...

7
Dehansen, can you share with me the name of the US shop you ourdered from? Did they ship directly to CH?

Thanks!

8
Hi Venturello, I don't mean to shill for them here, but it was Zenni Optical, just google them and you'll find them straight away.

9

In my "professional" opinion, the thing is that the price of glasses here IS on scale with comparison to mark-up of other retail goods.

Silhouette frames (which LensCrafters used to, maybe still do) carry, as one example, sell to the shop for about $50 to $75, depending upon the style. The shop sells them for generally between $125 and $300. Meanwhile, clothing costs maybe a couple bucks to the shop and sells for $100 and more - eyewear really is not where the "theft" via mark-up is.

Also, as much as I'm not a fan of corporations, I'm even less of a fan of online optical outlets.

It is one thing if you are getting a single-vision pair of glasses with either glass or normal plastic (CR-39) lenses and even then really makes me a tad squidgy but if you are purchasing any multi-focal (particularly progressive / varifocal) and / or any lens which is high-index or polycarbonate, you really are doing yourself a disservice by going with such - UNLESS it is a replacement of an EXACT pair which you have already owned and purchased with the help of a trained optician, in person.

If it is a plastic frame (or otherwise without nosepads), if you have worn that exact style before, if you supply the EXACT measurements which were used in that frame... then it is okay. Any changes to those variables, you need to keep your fingers crossed. Progressive / varifocal and polycarb / high-index each need to be measured for EXACTLY where you are looking through the lens out of each eye, any change in adjustment and it alters "everything."

So, for folks who are determined to utilize such services, my advice is this: Go to a local shop, perhaps lie a tad and instead of saying that you are looking to buy elsewhere, say that you are anticipating a gift... find the frame you want, get an optician to help you, doing ALL of the adjustments and take measurements just like you were going to buy there.

In the case of those lens types I mentioned, you need "monocular PD" as well as "vertical optical center." In the case of the multi-focals, this (vert. o.c.) is where it starts the change from distance to near viewing. This measurement is needed for polycarb / high-index lenses because the material is less "pure" than glass and you need to have the "sweet spot" over where you're actually looking so you need the mono pd (distance from bridge of nose to EACH pupil) as well as the o.c. to ensure your best sight through those specialty lenses.

SOME people are not particularly sensitive so it matters less, most people though ARE and really need their optician to pay close attention to these measurements. If a mistake is made when visiting a local shop that needs to be rectified, it is a relatively easy fix (even if the glasses need to be redone), I can not see any way for an online establishment to handle such issues without it being problematical - or involving the help of a local optician, which should have been enlisted in the first place.

10
Thanks Peg A, these are all very good points and really do need to be considered before buying eyeglasses anywhere.

Interestingly, I got my opthalmologist to take these measurements for me when I had my eyes checked (which was of course covered by the Krankenkasse) and this online shop's order system accepted or listed all these parameters as input. I had one thing wrong in the order (which would have resulted in rather thick lenses) and they contacted me to correct the problem (= choose a different frame which was more compatible to my prescription) before finalising the order.

Ordering progressive-lens glasses from an online shop is the last thing I would have considered before the sticker shock I got from our optometrist, but it was coming down to a choice between postponing even longer, or going with this online shop And at 120 CHF I figured it was worth the risk. Overall I'm happy with the results and while I do expect to buy a better-quality pair at some point, these will do nicely for a while.

Thanks again for your very useful insight (pun regretfully intended...)

11
So in the end, note to self: go to optometrist/ophtalmologist, get full prescription, get glasses/contacts when travelling abroad.

12
I went to two place over here for [rescriptions, both different. Went to Florida recently, got eyes tested, ordered glasses, recentlt received glasses and....my right eye is blurry Joy. And thats the stronger eye

13
Fiehlmanns isnt expensive... I got two pairs of decent frames, including lenses, for 70 CHF. Thats cheaper than I could find in the UK...

14
In case you wanted to rely on your Swiss health insurance: According to recent news glasses are being dropped fom the basic insurance coverage as of January 1, 2011. Up to now the basic insurance covered costs of up to 180 CHF once every 5 years.

15
I got a pair of progressives last year, from Fielmann's, and +/- CHF700 was what I paid, for 2nd level (out of 3) lenses and OK non-label frames. If I had opted for the top/3rd level it would have added an extra CHF150 (I think). Tinted lenses would have increased further, but I chose good quality clip-ons (at a fraction of the price for tints) made at the same time.

If you avoid the salesman that comes from within the trained optician, and don't get coerced into buying the latest designer frames, even with the top level progressives, you should easily get them for under CHF1000.You wont get the same level of price competitiveness and consumerism here yet, as to maybe you're used. Swiss people have for generations been happy to pay a premium for quality and service (even when it was disguised as something less), but slowly the times, they are-a-changing ... as a lot of them don't have so much disposable (income), as they did before. Free market economy is trying to claim a foothold.

Also check/revise/or change you health insurance -- I get CHF500 per 2 years for optical requirements -- not fantastic, but I don't foresee the need to change glasses more frequently, and therefore this brings the price down to a level, more to which you're used.

16
Never mind. I should read other posts before hitting 'enter'...

17
Another thing about buying glasses at an optician here in Switzerland. If you are not happy with the results (i.e. feeling that the focus is off-center, to strong, not strong enough, etc.) the shops I've been were willing to redo the lenses at no added cost.

Also at "my" optician I bought a rebated frame (sans guarantee/warrantee) and a little later they broke. I already thought I'd have to pay for the repair, but it the optician replaced the frame no questions asked. So customer loyalty also has its benefits...

And while I'm on the topic of optical instruments. I was planning to buy a new digital camera (Nikon D7000) over the internet, and I found the same kit at a lower price on the high street at a specialist shop... so remember the internet is not always cheaper and it sometimes pays to visit your specialist shop

18
I have just ordered and received my new glasses here, both lenses and frames. They are progressives and it took just a few days. A computer was used to determine some of the measurements needed to ensure they are made correctly. The optician spent a lot of time with me, not only testing my eyes again but making sure everything was going to be made correctly. When I visited the shop to pick them up, everything was checked again, that they are the correct fit etc. I could not imagine ordering such a product on line as progressives are not the same as single vision lenses. If something does not feel right, I was instructed to go back to the shop.

There are many things where I am happy to shop on price, but my eyes are not one of them. The optician spent time with me, he has many years of experience and that is what one pays for.

The last pair of frames I bought, from the same manufacturer, lasted 3 years. This is just pennies a day. They are still fine, but I wanted a change and I also really needed to change to progressives.

19
Or, consider someone like me (yeah, shame on me, but I am absent-minded like this), who goes to Decathlon in France a few times per year to buy 5 or 6 sunglasses, because I loose them all the time. And never used eyeglasses until in a few months when I will have to (just underwent eye surgery). So... should I buy a 1000 CHF pair of glasses, or as cheap as I can get which gives me adequate results?

(BTW it's one eye that's messed up, the other is 40 over 20... like my other eye was 2 months ago....)

20
Just found out that it was a mistake by the Dr. He put a 1 instead of a zero on the right lense prescription. Will all be sorted now.