We are one day into the new year and I have found a new thing to be pissed off about. Eyeglass frames. I happen to be an eyeglass frame nut, I have succumbed into buying them when I am in Rome or Paris. But would someone PLEASE tell me why a hunk of plastic or cheap metal costs $400 bucks and up. I was trawling around the internet this morning and accidently found the website for a company in China that makes high end frames, the kind we all see selling for scads of money. They were selling wholesale, to the trade, for $3.00 a piece!!!!!. So that is like a markup of a gazillion dollars. I have taken to buying cheap readers or sunglasses if I like the frames and having my Rx lenses put in. Never has an optician noticed that they were $5.00 frames. And not to mention that my tri focal prescription is another $400 bucks so we are talking almost a grand for a pair of plastic framed eyeglasses. What are your thoughts?

I hear you! I have had (still may) a similar obsession. I used to spend far too much at LA Eyeworks, and still can be tempted from time to time. Witness, those LuLu Guinness sunglasses that I had to have last summer. Now, granted sunglasses are not optional around here, they are a must, and I have not had Lasix, so it gets crazy real fast when the cost of the prescription is added. I like your idea of having "cheap" frames filled. It must be a racket.

I hear you too. And the cost of frames, along with my weird prescription, is my very reason for going to contact lens. I can get them for a little more than $100 for a year's supply. A cheapie pair of sunglasses has UV protection just as good as the high end, so for about $120, I'm good to go. But, I am not an eyeglass frame nut, so I can empathize. :-/

One thing, though: I have found Armani frames to be very durable and long lasting. They've been sat on, crushed, etc., but they never broke on me. I have an allergy to the metal they use on these frames . . . drives me nuts, especially during hot humid weather.

They don't make contacts for my prescription, so I'm stuck with glasses, and just got used to paying $800.00 or so per pair. I get them photograyed and non-glare coated and pretty much everything you can do to them, I have done.

The cheapie frames idea is a good one!

Oy! I just recently bought my FIRST and LAST pair of designer frames from my optician. They were adorable Lulu Guinness. And Jinxed. I got them a couple days before my trip to NYC and promptly lost them there. However thanks to Suz, they were recovered. Now less than 3 months later, I have apparently lost them in LA.

PLEASE NOTE: I have NEVER lost a pair of glasses in my life.

So they were not meant to be. Not to mention, a few days after I got them, I found the frames on eBay for much less.

So my new plan is to find the frame I like and scout out where to get it cheap, then have the RX filled.

Last year DH bought a pair of antique frames on eBay for about $30. They're about a century old. He took them to our local optician to get lenses, and voila -- he now wears them every day. They're black and perfectly round, and I think they make him look like a mature Harry Potter.

Holy Moly, Man! I just checked out the frames on ebay and I can't believe the prices I've been paying for the same thing!

Pieganjane, thanks for bringing this up!

I am a bitter old woman about the cost of frames...and glasses in general.
I have lashed out at my optician for even ordering such costly things. Sadly, even lenscrafters or Stein OPtical no longer offers decent prices on frames (and if there is a huge frame sale, you have to buy their lenses).

It's a racket of some sort, LOL.

I am seriously considering the corneal implant that they're doing now for people who can't have Lasik. At $5,000/eye, I'd STILL come out ahead in a few years.

By the way, I am very myopic (-7.50) so between the cost of ultra-high-index lenses (so they remain light enough to actually use) and the transitions that lets me use them as sunglasses most of the time as well, it is a hefty price tag all the way around.

I hear you! I just got a new frame and lenses three months ago. The frame and the ultra-high index lenses were $300 each. After my insurance discount, I paid around $475. So, when I next get a new prescription, I will just get new lenses and keep the same lens. I did this with my last pair and it worked out much better financially. The frame was still in good shape after 5.5 years. I could have worn it more but I had gotten tired of it.

Something I've done in the past and would consider again: going to a technical college with an optometry department to get my lenses and frames. They didn't do eye exams, so I needed to bring in a prescription. But after that, they ground and fitted the lenses. I was quite pleased, and the total for lenses and new frames came to about $120. (Note: the frames lasted me eight years.) Because students are doing the work under supervision, their work is part considered job training rather than work, so the labor costs are much less. If you can find a technical college that still has an optometry department (mine has gone the way of the dodo), this is a very good deal.

I don't know, but it seems like the biggest price-fixing scam in the world --- that, and the fact that all breakfast cereals cost exactly the same amount of money, $3.59 or some such, for 43 cents worth of ingredients.

The best frames I ever had I picked out of the throw-away box at the opticians for $10.00. They were black, thickish, rectangular, and that perfect cross, as my brother put it, between nerd-chic and just-plain-nerd. Sadly, they got snapped in half at the bridge during a wrestling move my 14 year old son insisted on demonstrating about a year ago. I never thought of the drugstore angle, but that's such a great idea.

What a great idea. I'm going to look into it.

By the way, what are the trends in frames? Sunglasses seem to be getting Jackie O big but what about regular glasses?

I have bought vintage eyeglasses on ebay....I love catseye glasses from the 50's early 60's. I have had a prescription put in at Sams Club. Ebay is a great place for good quality cheap frames.

I am so glad you posted about this! I have actually been putting off getting my eyes checked for this very reason. I switched from an independent dr to Lenscrafters a year ago b/c of the prices. I have no vision insurance, and my last visit at the indie cost me nearly $200 for an exam only. So, to add contacts and glasses would've easily pushed me toward $800. That was the last straw, and I decided to go to Lenscrafters-at least I could use my AAA club discount. But even then, I still paid almost $300 for my glasses. I never even thought about using vintage or drugstore frames!

I am just REELING reading these prices. I've been able to get away with drugstore "readers" for a long time. But soon (like now) I'm going to need real glasses . I had no idea that frames and lenses could cost this much. I'd ask for contacts but I can't even put drops in my eyes.)

So how can you buy frames on Ebay & know they'll look good? Don't you need to try them on?

You go to the optician and try them on, then you look for them on eBay.

Curse of the Lulus; so sorry about that Victoria. What stores were you in that day? At least in NY, they found them for you.

I fould my Lulus today in the car!! Yay!! They still are jinxed though. They want to be free.
LOL

Meanwile I stop by the optician's office to fix my backup pair that had lost the screw. (Yes, I know, I had a screw loose.)

Anyway, they had some killarrr frames in. Fendi in plum with rhinestone F's.
And some great Calvin Kleins too. Oy!

Considering how much I spend on fragrance, I do not bat an eye at the cost of excellent eye care and frames that compliment my style and help me to "look" my best. You get what you pay for, in my world, and if it sounds too good to be true...etc., etc., etc.

Victoria, I'm glad you found your glasses...I just may have to check out those Fendi's.

$275 my dear, I would love to find them cheaper, but I didn't see any yet. The style is so new, it hasn't fallen off the truck yet.

Great idea of trying on frames then finding them on eBay. Except my optician always has to make adjustments for nose and ear, so how would you get around that?

Well I guess you just have to tell him, I found them for a better price. Order the lenses and he'll have to fit you when they come in. It feels a little funny, but heck if you save a bundle it's worth it.

Ebay seller bmiles33 - good source for optical wear and vintage glasses..Love those cat eyes from the 50's.

It might be a good bargaining tool if the optician knows you're going to be buying them. Better the money goes into his pocket.

He's going to have them to put the lenses in, won't he? Doesn't he fit you (adjust the nose and ear pieces) when you go to pick up your glasses?

I know the feeling! My last pair were $275, & that was with insurance. I also have no line, tri-focals so the price for the lenses was insane. Now that we have no insurance, there's no way I can afford to get new glasses. I'll be keeping these for as long as they work & pray the frames hold up so all I may need is new lenses. If I need new frames thanks to all of you I'll be going to Ebay. The prices are amazingly great! Do you just bring the frames to the optician & ask for new lenses? Can they say "no" because you didn't buy the frames through them? Just wondering...

I have resorted to buying frames on ebay. I have three pair of the same kind in 3 different colors. I found a style of chanel modern cat eye frames and I love 'em. I saved about $200.00 on ebay. I am not oposed to cheapie vintage frames though. But I've noticed that some believe that being 'vintage' is reason to jack up the price too.

You really have to shop around for a good price though.

www.glasses4less.com

I've bought several pairs from them with no problems. They're particularly good for extras - I have a dedicated pair for my purse and another for my briefcase. At those prices, why not? Of course you have to have an idea of what looks good on you. You can pick up frame sizes by looking for the numbers inside the temples.

Putting contacts in is really no big deal. I get up close and personal to the mirror in my bathroom while I'm putting them (contacts) in, and it looks like I'm putting them into the eyes of that other person! Piece o'cake!
;-)