There’s an art to it that has been lost on many. If they’re awesome, then you probably wouldn’t consider them overpriced. You just haven’t experienced that yet.
What I can tell you is that the professional practices aren’t selling the junk that Costco sells and just marking it up more. If they don’t get it right, find a practice that has a reputation for doing it well.
If you can wear the Costco progressive, it’s a great deal. Few can.
As for frames, yes, all gray market, mostly junk. But what most practices sell these days is mostly junk, and just more expensive. The best glasses are made in Japan, followed by parts of the EU (generally not Italy) and the USA.
If, and that’s a big IF, you find a practice that understands progressives and carries independent, handmade frame lines, you will almost certainly feel that what you got was “worth it.”
That certainly doesn’t apply to everyone. It’s only a subset of people that care about that. Most have a closet full of shoes, but only a single pair of glasses that are worn on the very first thing people see.
Yep! I pay a lot of money for my progressives and frames but I wear them every single day. I have a complicated prescription plus an eye abnormality, and the cheap lenses/frames just don’t compare.
Anyone living in the NYC area: I go to an optical practice in Chinatown: Manhattan Grand Optical. They are thoroughly professional and the optometrist’s prescription was confirmed as perfect by ophthalmologists. I recently scratched a lens and they replaced it, putting lenses from older glasses in drugstore sunglass frames for me.
I am very nearsighted with astigmatism and the usual old-people’s farsightedness. I bought frames at Warby Parker and they cheerfully put transition lenses for all my diagnoses for around $450. And they take most insurances, just not Medicare Advantage.
FWIW younger S once had a completely muffed eye exam. I have no idea what happened, as I was not there.
Our former eye doctor closed up shop. S needed an updated prescrip for contacts and was home on break. I sent him to a place none of us had been to. I sent him alone - mistake #1? though he was 18-20 years old. I did not send him with his old prescrip - mistake #2?
He came home VERY unhappy about the practice and the whole exam in general. He has the best eyes of all of us. Regular near sightedness and a prescrip then of roughly -1.50 in both eyes. His new prescrip was something like -2.75 in one eye and -3.50 in the other. huh? I think I drove him around and had him read license plates. When he seemed fine, we did the cheesy 1-800-contacts exam to reorder.
The next year I started going to a new lady/practice that I LOVE. She is now my favorite doctor in town. Sent younger S the next year - with his old prescrip. It was basically the same. Might have been tweaked 0.25 or something.
I have no idea what happened, but I didn’t want to complain. Just moved on.
Adjusting to prism in your glasses is not he same as adjusting to progressives. Prescribing prism is an art and how much prism is prescribed for you can vary between different doctors. If you feel dizzy or off, call your doctor and let them know.
Regarding progressives, the car analogy is a good one. That said, it is not one size fits all. There are plenty of people who wear Costco progressives and aren’t bothered by it. For them it serves their needs. Would they see and function better out of a different design? Sure, likely, but for some it isn’t worth the cost. IMO, an old Essilor lens is better than a Zenni lens any day.
Doctors opinions can be biased based on their own experiences. My favorite progressive is a Zeiss design. One of my least favorite is also a Zeiss design.
Regarding frames, I don’t believe that Costco sells grey market products. Most of what I see are models either made for Kirkland or discontinued frames from other manufacturers.
Luxottica owning 80% of the frame market is a myth. It is closer to 30%. Essilor and Luxottica merged in 2018. The conglomerate owns Luxottica frames, Essilor lenses, EyeMed vision insurance, Lenscrafters, Pearle Optical, Target Optical, Sunglass Hut and other retail locations.
Regarding an ophthalmologist confirming an optometrist’s prescription ophthalmologists are surgical specialists with minimal training in how to measure a prescription.
Warby Parker does not take VSP insurance. You can submit an out-of-network claim and receive a small percentage of what you would receive at an in-network office. Warby Parker can bill select EyeMed plans but not all EyeMed.
Just as a 25 year old Hyundai serves some people’s needs.
But do you know why? I do. The big ophthalmology practice we were in was exclusively Hoya. When we started, we were exclusively Zeiss, with an iProfiler and iTerminal for full POW measurements. I didn’t understand why occasionally I’d have patients with the “best” Hoya or the “best” Zeiss, a verified Rx and they hated them. I met a progressive whisperer who mapped all the major brands with the Zeiss lens designer. He taught me the ways. We sold Zeiss, Hoya, Essilor, Seiko, Shamir and IOT. The lens was chosen after a pretty extensive lifestyle interview. “Best pair of glasses ever” was a common complement.
Costco sources their ophthalmic frames and sunglasses through many channels. They have a long history of selling items that aren’t/weren’t obtained through legitimate distribution channels. They disclose that they aren’t authorized dealers right on their website. They are fully within their right to do that, as was affirmed by the case brought by Omega.
And your expertise comes from where?
I will grant you this. Prism and progressives are apples and oranges. As for prism, who prescribes what for any given angle of deviation is all over the map. It’s pretty complex, and often overprescribed without the nuances being explained. I have a lot of history, because all of the diplopia cases, prism or not, were dumped to me.
Very true! I didn’t refract either though for 21 years. But at least, I could assess the data and have a pretty good idea of whether or not it was in the ballpark. Some of our technicians refracted as well as any optometrist can. Others…not so much. It’s one of the many reasons I left. They were rushing unqualified techs onto the floor too early.
No idea if they are good but my daughter bought from them. I think I got back $55 - $30 for the frames and $25 for the lenses. The glasses were like $200+, not $95.
Oh, I KNOW you could. It just might not have been a priority. I totally get that. It’s a niche. Just because you can afford a Mercedes, doesn’t mean you do.
If you’re currently wearing prism, and asymptomatic, just keep it the same. Remeasuring and changing just introduces the possibility that you won’t like it.
