Glasses Buying Cost Cutting Plan Article Discussion Area

Steve_xx

embee wrote: »

Why do you expect the NHS (ie tax payers) to pay for your specs? If it was something like protective clothing or safety specs you needed, fair enough; they should and WOULD be provided at no cost to you. You presumably need your specs for general use as well as work - a bit like the shoes you wear. It's very unlikely, but not impossible that someone would need specs SOLELY for VDU use.

Lot's of people qualify for free glasses.

In your analogy the NHS would not freely treat people who smoked cigarettes and subsequently contracted lung cancer.

froggy27_2

Hoping sbdy can advice/help..
OH had an eye test yday at Specsavers and now needs varifocals but their quote was about £350 + frame as one lense needs to be thinned... now that is just too much for us at the moment.:(.. As it is his first varifocal I am wary of ordering online.. Although I saw that glasses direct do home visits? anybody has experienced that service?
Are there any offers out there on high streets or others where we could have a look and see if there's any chance of reducing this????
Thanks in advance.

nedmundo

If that was their quote, that suggests you are dealing with a strong prescription (at least in one eye). That being the case, you'd be wise to get the specs there in case of problems.
Did they run through all the options for you? e.g. different varifocal designs, basic lens materials etc. Might be worth going back and having a chat with someone else there.

nico26

nedmundo.
If this is your first pair of varifocals please dont order online. You get different options in varifocals. I just got a new pair which cost me £380 as I needed a stronger prescription. Varifocals can take some time to get used to and slight ajustments might need to be made.Ive had to get slight ajustments to mine. For the first time get them from an local store and any problems can be easily resolved.Shop around you might be able to get them cheaper or speak to Specsavers. I have the top of range lens in mine. You might be able to lower the price a bit so they might have started at top with the most expensive. But please be careful first time.

nedmundo

You're quite right nico26 but it was froggy27 asking!

posh_eyes

froggy27 wrote: »

Hoping sbdy can advice/help..
OH had an eye test yday at Specsavers and now needs varifocals but their quote was about £350 + frame as one lense needs to be thinned... now that is just too much for us at the moment.:(.. As it is his first varifocal I am wary of ordering online.. Although I saw that glasses direct do home visits? anybody has experienced that service?
Are there any offers out there on high streets or others where we could have a look and see if there's any chance of reducing this????
Thanks in advance.

The price of varifocals is totally excessive by high street opticians - the mark-up on these lenses beggars belief.

I would recommend ordering online only if you are able to visit the company selling the glasses for the necessary measurements to be taken. Type in "varifocal glasses" in google and give the companies listed a call to ask to arrange to visit. Some online companies sell varifocal lenses for £75.00 including taking all the necessary measurements.

Steve_xx

posh_eyes wrote: »

The price of varifocals is totally excessive by high street opticians - the mark-up on these lenses beggars belief.

I would recommend ordering online only if you are able to visit the company selling the glasses for the necessary measurements to be taken. Type in "varifocal glasses" in google and give the companies listed a call to ask to arrange to visit. Some online companies sell varifocal lenses for £75.00 including taking all the necessary measurements.

You may say that varifocals costs are excessive, but I know an optician who pays:

1. £38k per annum rental and rates of £22k
2. Fuel costs
3. Staff costs
4. Equipment costs

Therefore, if he charges an average of £20 for an eye test then he would have to perform 3000 eye tests alone just to pay for item 1 above. That equals 31.25 weeks of work per annum assuming that an average eye test might take some 25 minutes and there are 40 hours in a working week.

So it's not all as rosy for opticans as you may think at first glance.

posh_eyes

Steve_xx wrote: »

You may say that varifocals costs are excessive, but I know an optician who pays:

1. £38k per annum rental and rates of £22k
2. Fuel costs
3. Staff costs
4. Equipment costs

Therefore, if he charges an average of £20 for an eye test then he would have to perform 3000 eye tests alone just to pay for item 1 above. That equals 31.25 weeks of work per annum assuming that an average eye test might take some 25 minutes and there are 40 hours in a working week.

So it's not all as rosy for opticans as you may think at first glance.

Opticians should charge a reasonable rate for the services they offer rather than load excessive costs on the products they sell.

Steve_xx

posh_eyes wrote: »

Opticians should charge a reasonable rate for the services they offer rather than load excessive costs on the products they sell.

So then, based on what I have told you about a specific opticians expense profile, how would you dertermine "reasonable"?

posh_eyes

Easy - that is determined by the value the consumer places on the service. It is absolutely nothing to do with any expense profile. If you can't get consumers to buy your service at the price which offers a profit, then offer a service that will offer a profit or get out of the business.