Prices of glasses?

S

scallywag

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Not sure if this is the right place, but anyway...

I just got approval from the dept. of social welfare for a free glasses eye test, so off I went merrily to my optician which I've used for contact lenses. They duly did the test, and then we started looking at frames.

Now the bottom line is for really nice Ray Ban frames, the price quoted came to a total of 260 euro, or even 330 euro if I go for a special protective coating.

Do these prices sound normal? I haven't bought glasses in about 10 years so I've no idea. Of course they're designer frames and I'm sure I could get cheaper ones, but I'm just wondering if the price makes sense.
 
Depends on your prescription really. I have a strong prescription (Long sighted) and depending on the frames I choose usually need (and want) my lenses made as thin as possible so this bring the cost up. So i'd usually pay about what you were quoted for new frames and glasses. Granted i do choose designer frames and have expensive taste!

Whereas my OH has a fairly standard prescription (short sighted) so doesn't need much extra done to the lenses and his costs can be much less than mine.

Ask what extra, if anything, they are doing to the lenes (thining, protective coating etc) in my experience that can ramp the cost up loads
 
Designer frames are a waste of time and the cost of them to the opticians are only marginally more expensive that non designer ones.

Better to buy a good standard non designer frame and spend the rest of the money on the best lense you can get.

The lens is what glasses are all about.

The rip off is the designer framesglasses.
 
Thanks for the tips. The lenses I require are for short-sightedness (-4.5 approx) so I think I'd need the high index (or high refraction?) lenses to keep them thin. This adds to the lens costs.

Then it was explained to me that the extra coating makes the lenses more scratch resistent, less reflective and also less prone to smudging. This all sounds good too, but of course adds to the costs as well.

I think I'll ask them if they have non-designer frames. However, my experience with sunglasses is that the designer frames actually are better quality and last longer. So I might just go for it, recession or not!
 
Hi scallywag, I bought new glasses just before christmas. Total price including eye test was 520 euro! I was able to claim about 70 euro back! I know its a huge amount of money but i wear mine everyday for at least 2 years, so when you break it down its 71 cent a day! Not designer frames by the way, just the strength of my prescription i guess
 
Eblanoid said:
Normal price for designer glasses in Celtic Tiger Ireland, but insane during a depression.
See this thread for cheaper alternatives:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=802121
Click to expand...

Thats for off the shelf reading glasses only. Hardly the same thing.

I've always found opticians very expensive in Ireland, and they usually have a very poor choice in frames. €300 or so is usually.

Worth going to the UK to be honest. Better choice, and much cheaper.
 
I got new glasses before Christmas from Specsavers in the GPO arcade. The total cost for eye test and two pair of glasses was €159 - they were not designer frames but are very good quality and I have never got so many positive comments in relation to their appearance. My prescription is not particularly strong but I did get the scratch resistant coating.
 
Is the UK really cheaper? Wouldn't the likes of specsavers, vision express etc. be much the same as here, albeit you might save a small bit on the sterling v euro amount?

I need new glasses, am wary of buying online in case the fit isn't so good, and I may be going to London in a few weeks anyway with work...should I wait?
 
boogaloo said:
Is the UK really cheaper? Wouldn't the likes of specsavers, vision express etc. be much the same as here, albeit you might save a small bit on the sterling v euro amount?
Click to expand...

Rents, insurance, energy, overheads, etc. are all higher here, so the answer is no, they would be dearer here.

Rents especially are huge in Ireland.
 
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