The optometrist recommended seamless bifocals. I have a very painful nerve condition in my face (atypical trigeminal neuralgia), so this is what I need with glasses: the lightest weight frames possible- known as ultra light- with the lightest weight lenses possible and automatically darkening lenses so I don’t need the weight of sunglasses. The cheapest frames brought the total to $250 on the site the insurance worked with.
The frames are $20 on the cheap site. Everything else in the cost is the lenses.
As for why I have to buy them online- I don’t want anyone touching my face unless it’s absolutely necessary. The exam was painful enough.
American for-profit healthcare is fucking awesome.
All this requires is a metal stamping machine and some quick assembly. We’re not talking about a car here, it’s a pair of eyeglass frames. The fact that you can get titanium frames for under $50 shows that this is ludicrously overpriced.
https://www.zennioptical.com/b/titanium-glasses
So, why don’t you do it?
Because I don’t have a metal stamping machine? What a silly question. If I say someone is overcharging for smoothies it doesn’t mean I need to open my own cafe.
Not a silly question, an instructive one that you just proved my point. There is investment necessary in infrastructure/tools and education, not to mention actually making a profit for the wage of the person doing the work. That all adds cost beyond materials. Which, by the way, is significant. 1/8" titanium rod grade 5, 6" long, which would roughly be a similar volume for making glasses, is >$7 USD before tax and shipping on McMaster Carr.
And yet you can still get them for under $50 when those are usually being sold for over $200. It’s because they have a designer label on them. I’m sure you understand that.
Are you actually blind to the extra complexity of the shape? Go get the cheap glasses with the simple build quality. Don’t complain that other people are paying for extra features like magnet clip filters and much nicer build quality. Get what you need.
Why you think I care what you spend your money on, I don’t know. I never made this personal.
So what’s your complaint here? Why are you making a big deal about how I suggested some really nice glasses that cost half what you posted about?
All I was saying was that they seemed really overpriced. I’m sorry you took it personally, but I never made it personal.
Also, I would suggest it is not especially helpful to offer a link to expensive frames when someone is infuriated about how much they had to pay for glasses.
So design, storage, QA, logistics, and everything that’s necessary to actually get them in your hands don’t matter to you?
Edit: also the glasses you linked only need a stamping machine and a bit of deburring, but the ones I linked are much more elegant and also IMO look far better. Kinda ironic given how absurd the rest of their products look.