Penny Can
The Lobby => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Mac on December 24, 2012, 09:23:18 am
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Warby Parker Wants To Destroy A $20 Billion Company That Charges Customers Insane Prices
I've been wearing glasses since 6th grade. I have mucho experience with glasses, frames, etc. And I'm always blown away at the expense. Like swim suits, the less there, the more expensive they seem to be.
I heard about Warby Parker (http://www.warbyparker.com/) sometime back, forgot about them and the then saw a recent news article on the expense of eye wear. It kills me that there is a company Luxottica, that is pretty much a monopoly and knows it can charge what it wants.
It's that time for replacement glasses for me and so, good timing, I remembered Warby Parker. After going through their pretty cool site and trying different things, I was ready to dive in a get a pair... until I get to this part (http://www.warbyparker.com/inquiries/#prescriptions-03). No malice on their part. I should have gone there first. Simply I need bifocals and they don't support that currently.
So I had to go to the local eyewear stores and get **** without a kiss.
While they were having a very amazing sale on frames, I still walked away less $440. The frames were only $21. They were on most of their designer frames. That's cool, but still the lenses and the special needs cost me an arm and a leg. She told me without the insurance and the deal, my glasses would have run over $1000. WTF people.
Check out this article and separate news report if you have eyeglasses.
So in support of common sense, visit Warby Parker
Have you ever heard of a company called Luxottica?
What we learned was pretty shocking!
The details:
Luxottica is a $20 billion company.
It makes glasses and sells them.
500 million people wear its products.
65 million pairs were sold last year.
It owns Ray Bans and Oakley. It makes glasses for other brands it does not own, including Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Prada, Burbury, Prada, Tiffany, and many more.
It owns glasses stores Lenscrafters, Pearle Vision, Oliver Peoples, Sunglass Hut and others.
It owns Eyemed, the nation's most popular vision insurance company.
Because it owns so much of the eyewear industry – from supply chain to distribution – Luxottica is able to charge very high prices for the glasses it sells.
The average frame plus lenses costs $300 at Lenscrafters. That's about 20X more that it costs to make them.
Some people think this is an unfair ripoff.
Some people believe that Luxottica is a monopoly that cannot be defeated.
One company that does not feel this way is New York-based startup Warby Parker, which is on a never-say-die mission to destroy Luxottica.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voUiWOGv8ec
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I hate having to bow down to something that is more or less a monopoly knowing full well I am going to pay through the nose. Ugh!!
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Hate it every freakin' time. Now that I know about Luxottica, just makes it worse.