You might wear glasses daily, but have you ever questioned the reason as to why your eyeglasses cost so much? The glasses that a wearer buys have multiple costs, including costs for the frames and the lenses of course, and costs that end up covering your retailer's costs for outsourcing.
This will further be divided into other subcategories such as manufacturing costs, warehousing costs, licensing fees, and more. Read on to find out why exactly a necessity for most ends up being so expensive.
Hidden Costs of Glasses
- Traditional Frame Manufacturing
Frames that are manufactured traditionally will usually be designed and manufactured by someone other than the retailer, i.e., a third party. For their services, retailers must pay a small sum to the 3rd party, usually known as licensing fees. Along with the licensing fees also comes the manufacturing fees and profit margin that retailers usually keep having some sort of incentive in providing eyeglasses to the general public.
- Traditional Lens Manufacturing
The frames manufactured in the above step will then be transported and given to a 3rd party lens manufacturer, who will assemble the 2 parts and mold them into a singular pair of eyeglasses. Profit margin and additional costs also end up raising the price of eyeglasses in this step of production. Costs may include manufacturing costs and shipping costs.
- Traditional Distribution
The manufacturer sells these manufactured eyeglasses to a wholesaler distributor, then sold off to a retailer. This process further includes some additional hidden, which comprises warehousing costs, selling expenses, and a small amount set aside for distribution fee.
Once again, both the manufacturer and the wholesale distributor will keep a profit margin, which gives them an incentive to carry out such tasks in the first place.
Afterward, when retailers receive these eyeglasses, they will be stocked in the shop. A customer will then select and pick out eyeglasses of their choice and buy them. The retailer himself will also add in a few additional costs and a profit margin when selling off these eyeglasses. Costs that pay off rent, sales staff, selling expenses, and a profit margin will further end up increasing the actual price of these glasses.
Thus, the traditional way of manufacturing lenses and frames and assembling the 2 parts and distributing them so that the perfect customer ends up buying them, raise the prices of eyeglasses, causing them to be quite expensive.
Multiple stores may go on a route to manufacture the eyeglasses themselves, getting rid of an outsider or 3rd party costs. In such instances, eyeglasses will be more pocket friendly and can be purchased by most individuals who might require eyeglasses.