I have surveyed several on line suppliers of prescription spectacles and found that most seem to use a similar web page arrangement and source the ordered item from the US, although through a UK office. This web page ordering system is very simple and is heavily biased to making a sale at all costs. The short comings are that they only have a certain number of frame fitting sizes and in order to get exactly what I want is impossible.
I ordered some £30 prescription rimless reading glasses which were quite well made, but because I could not get a 16mm nose bridge my eye pupils were not in the centre of the 50mm wide lenses.
The other problem is reviewing a chosen specification held in the 'Basket' ready for purchase. I can't remember if I had decided on transition lenses for the varifocals or not, but there no way to know. Opening the basket just shows the PP logo.
After my last eye test where they couldn't really explain how my ReadySpecs readers appeared to be optimal for my use, for both close and distant work, I though I would order some online and ordered 3 pairs, one as per my readers, one for longer work like driving and a stronger pair for more close up work.
They arrived promptly (from Glasses Direct or some such), and I tried them all on for a test but have never actually worn any of them since because even though they are frameless and not particularly thick, they are heavier than my ReadySpecs (so can fall off if working and I face downwards), offer no better vision and are more complicated to deal with (because my readers stay on all day)? ;-(
Is that something you specify when you order (in which case I would have when did) or can adjust once you have them?
How do glasses with completely straight arms stay on peoples faces?
I generally have to bend or otherwise adjust the arms outwards to reduce the pinching pressure on my head, even when that only results in the arms ending up mostly parallel when fully opened.
Yesterday I took delivery of a pair of £6 specs from Selectspecs. Although the £6 price includes single vision coated lenses, I opted for a set of thinner lenses for an extra £5. The order took 9 calendar days from placing the order to delivery. IMHO they are excellent. The only possible criticism is that the frames and, in particular the arms, are quite delicate and are unlikely to take much in the way of rough handling.
Given the quick turn round on the order, I'm certain that these were assembled in the UK (no doubt from Chinese components)
Although Selectspecs can provide more complex lenses such as varifocals or bifocals, I would probably still go to a local optician for these as from past experience these can be problematic if not 100% right.
We have an 'actual' opticians that does OK and we supply wholesale to other opticians too.
The website is a somewhat untapped resource. I should put more effort into tapping it. It's harder than people might think though and at the margins only really worthwhile if scaling up dramatically. One day perhaps.
Incidentally we made the first few thousand pairs of specs for a competitor who advertises on TV. I guess some of us were destined to work making other people rich :)
Yes I'd managed to work out that this was just one marketing channel for a larger company and not just some guy trying to make an income for himself by operating out of a shed
But I was still surprised by the limited traction that this retail item has achieved
According to all the business gurus, "online" is the big new thing that everyone should use to triple their sales and make their company worth gazillions (there was one on last night's edition of "The Money Maker" pushing that approach, - though I've yet to the end to see how it pans out).
OST seems to have achieved a reasonable presence in the marketplace, they have 300 reviews on Trustpilot. As a comparison, a travel company that I use where I can also see from invoice numbers that they have 50,000 customers per year (at substantially larger margins) also has 300 reviews.
OTOH Glassesdirect have 141,000 (I looked that up since I first asked the question)
Though it wouldn't take much for this cheaper online sales channel to be completely knocked on the head if high street opticians didn't charge such absurd prices.
surely there's a lot of work already expended in building the website, which is wasted if there isn't enough footfall
what you need is better SEO - a search for "discount glasses online" sees you nowhere (Even Specsavers, where the only online service that they offer is appointment booking, scores better)
I used to work for a small player in the mobile phone industry
They made more re-badged phones for a larger competitor than they made under their own name
They are some companies that do nothing other than make products with someone else name on
OK. I didn't notice the option at the time if present.
Ok. If the option is available etc.
OK.
I have tried that with many glasses but some are plan plastic arms (no wire) and so you have to hope they are made out of some sort of thermo-plastic. I have got some pretty hot with a hot air gun and they didn't seem to give or take a new set.
Ok.
Ok. That's how some of the cheapo readers I buy off eBay feel but the issue is more in the default scope of the hinge than the arms. eg, I can wear them as-is but they quickly break across the bridge. If I open the hinge angle with a file (generally to 90 deg) they both fit securely and last well.
That's true. I do have to buy a largeR hat or safely helmet but it's never been the biggest yet (more like 3/4 up the scale).
When I bought from GD I think there was a filter that let you specify the eye spacing (at least) and then I chose the simplest (the least / lightest frame / frameless) from that. I think I paid £75 for three pairs or somesuch.
All that said, they felt about 3x heavier than my frameless moulded plastic eBay readers.
Because these stay on my face most of the day, I don't tend to take them off then lose them and that when they are off) seems to be when they are also most likely to get dropped, lost, sat on and scratched.
So, (Ironically), these *very* cheap readers seem to last a lot longer than any supposedly 'better' glasses might (I would have to have at least two pairs, reading / driving) because they do everything.
I'm also now wearing a pair of X4's over the top of these 2.5 (ala The Repair Shop) for fine soldering etc and that means I still don't take these off and so again less likely to break / loose them. [1]
Cheers, T i m
[1] And of course I'm even less likely to want any new ones as I have a box of 9 spare. ;-)
I got my thermoset ones just right with a hot air gun. Tried it first on a pair of ready readers with almost identical frames and it worked. Made sure that the hot air got nowhere near the lenses. Just a guess, but the lenses might have a bit of inherent stress from the forming and even relatively low temperature might 'relax' them.
Ha! Mine tried a glorified, fixed, hair dryer. I did point out that it wouldn't work and stopped her from getting the lenses in the airstream.
Made the mistake of having flat metal arms on my latest pairs - can't bend it of course and the hot air ain't going to work! Possibly a MAPP torch would, or oxy-propane - that's a take arm off specs job.
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