Opticians: is there any difference in quality of Costco glasses? (2024)

I'm wearing a $12.95 pair of Zenni Optical glasses right now. I do not have Progressive/bifocals (yet).

Costco demands low prices and quality from the suppliers. Their eye exam (at the location I go to) doesn't have the latest/greatest technology. Eye mapping and all that stuff. But, you can get an exam anywhere and get your prescription filled at Costco or other discount online glasses providers.

Getting glasses from the typical retail stores kind of reminds me of the big cell phone places. Most still go to Verizon, AT&T, etc. and pay full retail. There are many good options where you pay less. Many just won't take the time to look at options or switch.

Progressive lenses are like cars....there are many different brands and models of progressive lenses. Some people are happy with lower quality and some people need the higher end models. Generally, the more expensive progressives will perform better (less distortion, wide zones for intermediate/near add power, etc). You can easily spend a grand on the best digital progressives when you add some extra lens options too.

If you compared a specific progressive lens brand and design from Costco/Walmart,etc to a private optical, the big store would still likely be cheaper because that is their model.

Private opticals and practices basically need higher markup to stay in business. Vision insurance plans pay sooo poorly for a general eye exam, that many practices wouldn't survive without the optical sales..I am an optometrist but my practice does not have an optical. Private offices can decide their own prices, but other corporate settings usually don't have that option.

CULater wrote:I just received possession of a new set of prescription sunglasses purchased at Costco. They have progressive lenses with polarization, antireflective coating, and light- adaptive tinting. Cost of the lenses was $160, total cost including frames was $225. In addition, they won't give you any static if you want to return them. When I priced these at a some optical shops, the lenses alone were quoted at $700 - $800. Can these Costco lenses be of the same quality at less that 1/4 the cost? If so, why is there such a huge markup at optical shops?

The answer to the bold above is simple and very documented in the popular news media, although it seems very, very few people seem to utilize this knowledge when shopping for glasses.

Retail optical is almost all owned by ONE conglomerate behemoth company - Luxxotica. Sunglass Hut, Ray-ban, and almost all the mall-retail optical stores are outright owned by this company, and thus they can set monopoly pricing and you wouldn't know it by comparing mall to mall optical stores. I believe 60 minutes has a segment on them where they actually visit the factory, ask a guide why Gucci (or some fancy brand) costs $400 for a frame compared to the $<2 cost of the plastic, and they just say something like "branding."

Zenni and other online optical outfits take the opposite to the extreme. Zero branding, zero middleman, all product. With the non-premium offerings at Zenni, you can get excellent functional glasses for <$35 WITH lenses (!) I've been wearing a more upgraded $70 pair of Zenni titanium frameless with photochromatic lenses for the last 5 years without incident. The same pair at the mall would have likely costed nearly $1000, and you'd barely be able to tell any cosmetic difference.

I have a big head, and I must have weird eyes. I need help from a good optician.

A couple of times I've tried the online glasses and they've hurt my eyes terribly when I've worn them. And also looked dumb when I tried them on.

So getting the right frame selected and fitted for my head is important. And then I got some prescription sungglasses, but they had a semi wraparound style and made my eyes swim when I wore them. I had to go back to the optometrist and optician and they did a redo, tweaking some more minor settings that aren't even typically recorded on a normal eye prescription.

And I don't even have bifocals, just farsighted.

I've tried single vision (computer glasses) from zenni twice and had no real problems. I'd love to save on progressives too, since they're so expensive at retail, but feel like those are a little trickier in terms of the right fit, given the 3 diff fields of vision. Still buy those from a shop with in-person fitting, but with my eyes weakening every year (darn age! ) this is getting really pricey.

Has anyone bought progressives online without issues?

The primary reason eyeglasses cost so much in the U.S. is because one company dominates the entire industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica

Pajamas wrote:The primary reason eyeglasses cost so much in the U.S. is because one company dominates the entire industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica

Yep. Posts like this are why I wish there were a like button.

After I got a pair of progressives at Lens Crafters for $500 AFTER insurance, and I saw the 60 minutes special on Luxottica —which makes the frames, owns LensCrafters, and EyeMed (insurance), I got it.

I like Costco because they charge a reasonable price for a quality product and a human fits you. I don't use the optometrist at the local Costco. I don't use a optometrist for eye health either, just for evaluating my Rx. I have a pair of Sunglasses from an online place using the Rx from my optometrist. The segment height isn't as critical for sunglasses. But I appreciate the measurement for that at Costco.

I will never buy another pair at LensCrafters. The mark up and vertical integration is obscene.

FYI, Costco manufactures their "digital, high-definition" lenses at their own 160,000 sq. ft. plant in San Diego.

http://www.costcoconnection.com/connect ... pg=85#pg85

I think Costco's "HD", "digital", or whatever they are calling them, progressives are at least one notch down from the most customizable progressives. Based on the optician mentioning minimum fitting height of 18 mm, I think Costco has a fixed corridor, while top of the line freeform/digital/HD progressives will have a variable corridor. Besides a variable corridor there are lenses that supposedly can be customized based on how they sit on your face, but I have yet to have anyone take the measurements to actually apply that feature when buying such lenses, so don't see the point.

in addition to offering just one lens design, Costco also does not have the full selection of lens materials that other sources may have. You can only get their HD progressive lenses in low def materials: Poly or 1.67 index plastic. The best optics in plastic would be CR-39 (the old standard) or Trivex. But most people have no clue regarding this, are oblivious to chromatic aberration, and think higher index means higher quality.

I still switched to Costco despite this, since all progressives provide relatively crappy vision anyway, and I am learning to ignore the chromatic aberration. What I think is a similar type of progressive lens to Costco was about $320 in Trivex, after a 30% AARP discount at the place I had been using (SolaOne HD from Shopko).

marc515 wrote:I wear Varilux "S-Design" Progressive Lenses, which Varilux claims are the best progressives on the market, and I am not sure how Costco lenses would compare. If I was wearing lower model lenses, I would think Costco would be OK. That said, I love the ultra clear vision I am getting with the S-Design, and until I can find out how Costco lenses compare to Varilux "S Series", I will continue to go to a private Optician.

I bought the "middle" price lenses at Lenscrafters. I think "Varilux" were the most expensive. Opinions on "value" of Varilux??

kramer wrote:I had to get progressives for the first time last year. With the same prescription, I got a pair shipped from Zenni (maybe $70 all in) and a pair from Costco (maybe $185 including lens and frame). I really can't even wear the pair from Zenni, I don't think they even qualify as a backup pair. The Costco pair is perfect.

Did you return them?

Samtex

mrc wrote:

Pajamas wrote:The primary reason eyeglasses cost so much in the U.S. is because one company dominates the entire industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica

Yep. Posts like this are why I wish there were a like button.

Me too

I always get my glasses at Zenni. Titanium readers....I think they cost about $50/pair.

When I last saw my ophthalmologist he was impressed with the quality and accuracy of the prescription.

samtex wrote:

kramer wrote:I had to get progressives for the first time last year. With the same prescription, I got a pair shipped from Zenni (maybe $70 all in) and a pair from Costco (maybe $185 including lens and frame). I really can't even wear the pair from Zenni, I don't think they even qualify as a backup pair. The Costco pair is perfect.

Did you return them?

Samtex

Pretty sure that's the result of wrong IPD or SH (interpupillary distance, or segment height). Not something you can fine tune buying online. I've had it done wrong with in person fittings too.

I believe those still allowed to live in the single vision world have it made for mail order.

Edit: IPD not PID (UNIX muscle memory)

mrc wrote:

samtex wrote:

kramer wrote:I had to get progressives for the first time last year. With the same prescription, I got a pair shipped from Zenni (maybe $70 all in) and a pair from Costco (maybe $185 including lens and frame). I really can't even wear the pair from Zenni, I don't think they even qualify as a backup pair. The Costco pair is perfect.

Did you return them?

Samtex

Pretty sure that's the result of wrong IPD or SH (interpupillary distance, or segment height). Not something you can fine tune buying online. I've had it done wrong with in person fittings too.

I believe those still allowed to live in the single vision world have it made for mail order.

Edit: IPD not PID (UNIX muscle memory)

I did not return them to Zenni (bought them during a short trip to the US) ... The IPD was exactly the same as the Costco lenses, in fact I used the Costco IPD measurement from a previous visit for the Zenni prescription ... there was no Segment Height requested or on my prescription, same for my Costco lenses. I had my prescription done elsewhere but at Costco the person behind the counter had me put the frames on when I bought them and seemed to use a pen to mark something on them. Anyway, they turned out great. Thanks for the replies.

I also wanted to mention that when I was "only" nearsighted, the Zenni glasses were fine. Unfortunately, starting at age 50, I have needed reading assistance.

kramer wrote:...there was no Segment Height requested or on my prescription, same for my Costco lenses. I had my prescription done elsewhere but at Costco the person behind the counter had me put the frames on when I bought them and seemed to use a pen to mark something on them.

Yes, that's how they measure the seg height, that determines where the corridor and reading area of the progressive lens is. It has to be measured for the specific frames and person wearing them. This is why buying progressives or bifocals online is not likely to get good results.

Zenni must just assume something and so you are not likely to get the mid and reading area in the optimal place. I'd guess they probably pick something low as having a too low reading area is less problematic that having it too high.

desiderium wrote:There is a significant difference in optical quality. I have a favorite optical shop. Lenses are Pentax, but now they use another high end lens of equivalent quality. The shop is very stylish and expensive but it is a major appearance and vision spend and an infrequent purchase. So I went to Costco for prescription sunglassses. The difference in clarity was striking, particularly when not looking straight ahead. I just couldn't wear the Costco glasses after wearing my regular pair.

Just curious if that was before 2014?

Samtex

I have a newer pair of Costco progressives w/ newer prescription, but prefer to wear my old progressives with Zeiss lens even if it means tolerating a bit more astigmatism in one eye. The Zeiss just feels more comfortable (visually). Will eventually go back to my local optical shop & get new Zeiss lens.

BTW- nothing beats getting my glasses adjusted by my local optician. Adjustments are critical for progressive lens & most big optical places don't spend time to really do a careful adjustment.

samtex wrote:

desiderium wrote:There is a significant difference in optical quality. I have a favorite optical shop. Lenses are Pentax, but now they use another high end lens of equivalent quality. The shop is very stylish and expensive but it is a major appearance and vision spend and an infrequent purchase. So I went to Costco for prescription sunglassses. The difference in clarity was striking, particularly when not looking straight ahead. I just couldn't wear the Costco glasses after wearing my regular pair.

Just curious if that was before 2014?

Samtex

Yes it was. Given the rapid changes in lens markets, I have no idea if the best quality lens materials are percolating into the lower cost providers. Let's hope so.

desiderium wrote:

samtex wrote:

desiderium wrote:There is a significant difference in optical quality. I have a favorite optical shop. Lenses are Pentax, but now they use another high end lens of equivalent quality. The shop is very stylish and expensive but it is a major appearance and vision spend and an infrequent purchase. So I went to Costco for prescription sunglassses. The difference in clarity was striking, particularly when not looking straight ahead. I just couldn't wear the Costco glasses after wearing my regular pair.

Just curious if that was before 2014?

Samtex

Yes it was. Given the rapid changes in lens markets, I have no idea if the best quality lens materials are percolating into the lower cost providers. Let's hope so.

Thank you, it's good to know that your experience was before COSTCO upgraded their new facility in San Diego in 2014. I was concerned because I had decided to try COSTCO with my current prescription. I find it difficult to spend $600+tax locally when COSTCO's price is $180+tax. Even though we don't have a COSTCO locally, we do regularly make day trips to where there is one. The $55 membership fee seems well justified if my wife and I just purchase 2 pair. Plus I was impressed by the store on a recent scouting trip just to check out the store.

Samtex

desiderium wrote:Yes it was. Given the rapid changes in lens markets, I have no idea if the best quality lens materials are percolating into the lower cost providers. Let's hope so.

It's not really about the "materials" it is the lens design. The best quality, in terms of optics, would be crown glass or CR-39 (standard plastic), the newest of these materials has been around since the 1940s.

What changed is they went to a better lens design. They also deleted CR-39 as an option (assuming their old progressive lens had that option ).

I recently did my first online eyeglass purchase. Replacementlensexpress. I sent them an old set of frames with an outdated prescription. Uploaded a pdf of my current prescription with PD but without segment height. Two weeks later the new glasses were dropped at my door. They are perfect and much cheaper than they would have been at the optician.

I got Trivex progressives, so they would have been quite expensive from the local place. They were "HD" lenses, but I cannot tell any difference vs my prior non-HD lenses. I have a large collection of frames since in the past it was always cheaper to get frames and lenses, which included a discount. This was cheaper than having them replace the lenses in a frame I already own. Does not make sense to me, but it had been like that for a very long time. Now that I have a place that will do lenses only, hard to know what would bring me back to buying at a local shop. I would consider it if they decided to compete on price, but right now they are nowhere close.

I looked briefly at Costco, but they did not have trivex, so I did not pursue further.

I am pretty sure you will like this:

Adam Ruins Everything - The Conspiracy Behind Your Glasses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAeHuDcy_bY

BogleMelon wrote:I am pretty sure you will like this:

Adam Ruins Everything - The Conspiracy Behind Your Glasses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAeHuDcy_bY

Much shorter and easier to find than the 60 minutes spot. Thanks for sharing. This is just nuts. I like the Luxottica CEO's Russian accent — nice touch.

She doesn't have to watch too hard with Lenscrafters. Lenscrafters always seems to be running a "special" of one sort or another. It's a marketing gimmick.

dm200 wrote:My most recent glasses (progressive) were from lenscrafters. I bought the middle lens quality and they were about the price you quote. My wife watches specials and the lenses were 50% off.

Product aside, my wife and I had lenses cut from Walmart Optician, and they were not cut properly, and 3 of 4 lenses (single vision, PolyCarb, mine -3, hers high Index -7) developed cracks and had to be replaced. Hard to generalize the person on the machine, or the cutting tool in the machine, or the machine itself across chains with many stores.

Can anyone with knowledge on this explain what to look for? Cracks developed years later, but still shouldn't have happened.

Went to Optician recommended by Aviation Certified Ophthalmologist and havent had a problem, but I may pay a little more for frames/lenses.

"Zenni must just assume something" THEY DO

Spouse's progressive not quite correct. Zenni will not adjust that dimension...I asked.

The issue was with the particular frames/lenses and how they fit.

Exchange for a different pair they were okay.

It's a risk taken for Chinese value product.
We like Costco.

Luxottica Is a little bit like OPEC ... except more effective at controlling price.
I avoid their brands wherever possible.
No idea why this has not been addressed competitively/anti-trust in the western democracies...especially EU.

kramer wrote: a pair from Costco (maybe $185 including lens and frame).

I was at Costco today. Progressive lenses are $160. Cheapest frame was about $50 unless I missed some that were less than that. The only additional expenses are tax and the eye exam. Even the blue tint for computers is free. If you buy two complete pairs at the same time, there is a $30 discount. They will put their lenses in your own frame for an additional $18.

samtex wrote: The $55 membership fee seems well justified if my wife and I just purchase 2 pair.

You don't need to be a Costco member to buy eyeglasses. I believe that is also true for the pharmacy, the food court, and sometimes for alcohol. I also confirmed today that the optical shop will take any Visa card, not just the Costco one, but they only take Visa credit cards.

The problem I had with this first pair of progressives from Costco was the tech who fit them for me. When I would watch TV I would have to tip my chin up to find the "sweet spot" for that range. I went back 3 times for them to adjust the frames thinking that was the problem. FINALLY, I got a REAL optical tech who reordered the lenses and fit me perfectly! Be careful who waits on you! Some of those "techs" really don't have much knowledge about what they are doing.

birdy

My understanding is that a non-member can make an optometrist appointment, but a membership is needed to purchase glasses. That is, unless has changed very recently.

You are correct about the other non-member things, particularly the pharmacy. There are like a dozen states where it isn't legal to require a membership to buy booze.

Pajamas wrote:You don't need to be a Costco member to buy eyeglasses. I believe that is also true for the pharmacy, the food court, and sometimes for alcohol. I also confirmed today that the optical shop will take any Visa card, not just the Costco one, but they only take Visa credit cards.

CardinalRule wrote:My understanding is that a non-member can make an optometrist appointment, but a membership is needed to purchase glasses. That is, unless has changed very recently.

You are correct about the other non-member things, particularly the pharmacy. There are like a dozen states where it isn't legal to require a membership to buy booze.

Pajamas wrote:You don't need to be a Costco member to buy eyeglasses. I believe that is also true for the pharmacy, the food court, and sometimes for alcohol. I also confirmed today that the optical shop will take any Visa card, not just the Costco one, but they only take Visa credit cards.

Oh goodness, thank you. I just got off the phone with them and you are correct. They did not tell me that yesterday when I was there. I told them I was not a member when discussing what payment they accept but they didn't tell me that I had to join. It would still be worth it, but there would be no other benefit to having the membership in my name.

jeffyscott wrote:

kramer wrote:...there was no Segment Height requested or on my prescription, same for my Costco lenses. I had my prescription done elsewhere but at Costco the person behind the counter had me put the frames on when I bought them and seemed to use a pen to mark something on them.

Yes, that's how they measure the seg height, that determines where the corridor and reading area of the progressive lens is. It has to be measured for the specific frames and person wearing them. This is why buying progressives or bifocals online is not likely to get good results.

Yes, the person must be wearing the frame for the measurements to be accurate. The image you include for measurements is pretty accurate, but each person has to be treated individually. Some people naturally tip their head up or down, which throws off the measurements. Some people prefer the seg heights lower or higher than normal. Types of activities can affect it. All good reasons not to order multifocal lenses online.
I am a retired optometrist, and I used to be associated with WalMart. We used to get people in that would tell us private optical places would tell them the contacts we sold were "seconds" and that's why we were less espensive; that the optometrist at the private office had to pay more for his degree than did the optometrists at WalMart, which is why we could charge less, and many other strange things that I would have to make a real attempt to not laugh at. I did educate the patients that none of it was true.

Pajamas wrote:

kramer wrote: a pair from Costco (maybe $185 including lens and frame).

I was at Costco today. Progressive lenses are $160. Cheapest frame was about $50 unless I missed some that were less than that. The only additional expenses are tax and the eye exam. Even the blue tint for computers is free. If you buy two complete pairs at the same time, there is a $30 discount. They will put their lenses in your own frame for an additional $18.

samtex wrote: The $55 membership fee seems well justified if my wife and I just purchase 2 pair.

You don't need to be a Costco member to buy eyeglasses. I believe that is also true for the pharmacy, the food court, and sometimes for alcohol. I also confirmed today that the optical shop will take any Visa card, not just the Costco one, but they only take Visa credit cards.

Just an update, this week I went to Cosco and ordered my glasses. I did ask them about needing a membership. They said you do have to have one to purchase glasses but it's not needed to have your eye test done there. Maybe it varies by state?

Samtex

samtex wrote:Just an update, this week I went to Cosco and ordered my glasses. I did ask them about needing a membership. They said you do have to have one to purchase glasses but it's not needed to have your eye test done there. Maybe it varies by state?

Samtex

I was wrong about that and someone pointed it out above which allowed me to cancel my appointment. The optometrist's office tried to get me to keep my appointment by saying that I don't need to be a member for an exam, but the whole point of the exam was to buy glasses. I may plan ahead next visit and have an eye exam done under my health coverage and then buy a Costco membership in order to buy glasses there. It's still much less expensive with the membership for glasses, but the $80 optometrist's fee cuts into that significantly vs. the $20 under my coverage.

lthenderson wrote:I got tired of paying $300 to $400 for glasses years ago so went to buying them online for the last decade never paying more than about $80 a pair with all the options that I wanted. Three weeks ago, I went to the local optometrist (private non-chain store) to get an updated prescription with full intention of buying them online again later. Just for kicks, I priced out a pair through them with my insurance (EyeMed) and ended up walking out with a new pair for only $15. I am probably going to rethink buying them online in the future.

Just curious, but how much does EyeMed insurance cost?