| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
|
 Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:29 am Post subject: Lenscrafters Schmenscrafters! |
 |
|
So I just bought a new pair of prescription glasses in Namdaemun for 55,000won, including an eye test, a magnetic clip-on sunglasses part, as well as two nifty screwdrivers for glasses-repair. They were ready in 20 minutes (no joke!). And they adjusted my old glasses and replaced the nose-holder thingies and screws for free.
At Lenscrafters in the west, the frames alone would cost a couple of hundred dollars for a cheap pair. Lenscrafters can pucker up and kiss my satisfied a$$!
Why are glasses so expensive "back home"? Has anyone ever considered buying loved-ones glasses here and shipping them "back home"? Probably would be a heckuva lot cheaper, no? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
uberscheisse
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
Location: japan is better than korea.
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
| i've been bugging my friends and family to send me their prescriptions for a year. i think they don't believe just how damned cheap it is here. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Return Jones
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Location: I will see you in far-off places
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:43 am Post subject: |
|
|
55,000! You got ripped off! 
My last pair cost 20,000. They're great! Also, soft lenses start at 40,000 per pair. Amazing! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Return Jones wrote: |
55,000! You got ripped off!
My last pair cost 20,000. They're great! Also, soft lenses start at 40,000 per pair. Amazing! |
Yeah, maybe, but they're reeeeeaaaaaally nice and they truly transform my face a la Clark Kent; I wonder if anyone will recognize me at work tomorrow. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
Could it be that you're paying LensCrafters for service that Koreans don't provide?
| The wiki wrote: |
| The stores usually feature independent optometrists on-site, and are well known for their quick in-store turnaround, allowing for customers to walk in, obtain an eyeglass prescription, select frames, and have their glasses made during a single visit. |
And apparently LensCrafters are the largest and cheapest retailer of prescription eyewear in North America. Man, you guys are in the bargain basement of the industry in your country and you're still biatching about the prices?? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
uberscheisse
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
Location: japan is better than korea.
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
i wonder if it's the gene pool in korea suffering that forces there to be so many crappy eyes... and therefore so many optometrists/glasses shops.
you'd think they'd do something about the lazy eyes, too. breed elsewhere, dammit! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
| uberscheisse wrote: |
| i wonder if it's the gene pool in korea suffering that forces there to be so many crappy eyes... and therefore so many optometrists/glasses shops. |
Could be something to that. For years the news has reported on Korean mothers making their sons wear glasses whether they really needed them or not, because... well, it makes them look brainier, the smart kids all wear them, the men in high-paying careers who we see on TV all wear them, etc. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:10 am Post subject: |
|
|
| JongnoGuru wrote: |
Could it be that you're paying LensCrafters for service that Koreans don't provide?
| The wiki wrote: |
| The stores usually feature independent optometrists on-site, and are well known for their quick in-store turnaround, allowing for customers to walk in, obtain an eyeglass prescription, select frames, and have their glasses made during a single visit. |
And apparently LensCrafters are the largest and cheapest retailer of prescription eyewear in North America. Man, you guys are in the bargain basement of the industry in your country and you're still biatching about the prices?? |
(bold and italics are mine)
But that's the thing... I'm pretty sure the guy who did my eye test wasn't a licensed optometrist, but the rest of what wiki says was provided during my visit in Namdaemun.
As far as the prices go, why is it that I can buy a normal, good pair of glasses for 60$ here, but I have to spend a minimum of 300$ back home? That's a pretty signicant difference in what you can get for a normal/cheap pair of glasses. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Hanson wrote: |
| As far as the prices go, why is it that I can buy a normal, good pair of glasses for 60$ here, but I have to spend a minimum of 300$ back home? That's a pretty signicant difference in what you can get for a normal/cheap pair of glasses. |
Yes, and iceberg lettuce was 4,000 won a head the last time I looked. (a month ago) Some things here are surprisingly cheap, others wildly overpriced. Ideally one can get by with a minimum of the latter and enjoy more of the former -- That make very happy korea time.
BTW, don't all Canadians get issued a new pair of spectacles whenever they break or lose or outgrow them from that well-funded, cheery national health service of yours? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
coolsage
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: The overcast afternoon of the soul
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
| A pity that these opticians, or whatever the correct term is for what they do, aren't offering a loss-leader discount on sunglasses, so that Korean girls don't have to walk around holding books in front of their faces. That's just not a good look; it detracts from that natural beauty. That's such a turnoff. Spend the man won and get a pair of shades. Oooh, how radical, how rude. Well, 20 years ago red cars were illegal (you can look it up); it's about time for K-girls to put down the book and pick up the shades. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well hansen, you can set up a business and sell cheap Korean glasses to the masses. I double dare you to.
Last edited by dulouz on Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:19 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:14 am Post subject: |
|
|
| dulouz wrote: |
| Well hansen, you can set up a business and sell cheap korean glasses to the masses. I double dare you too. |
I have a friend in Australia who some years ago was ordering from me in Korea uncut ("uncrafted"?) prescription lenses -- plates of glass, basically -- set after set after set, for himself, his family, relatives, friends, neighbours, coworkers, etc.
One of his friends was the optician who was cutting the lenses to fit the frames, and he told me that my resale PRICE (my cost plus a gentlemanly consideration) was below his wholesale COST from suppliers in Australia. My buddy and I didn't bother with bank money transfers; I'd send him the uncut plates and he'd send me things that I wanted and couldn't find in Korea. By the end of summer, I had a potting shed full of posthole diggers and power tools, while half of Sydney was walking around with Guru Glasses™ on their happy little noggins. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| JongnoGuru wrote: |
| Hanson wrote: |
| As far as the prices go, why is it that I can buy a normal, good pair of glasses for 60$ here, but I have to spend a minimum of 300$ back home? That's a pretty signicant difference in what you can get for a normal/cheap pair of glasses. |
Yes, and iceberg lettuce was 4,000 won a head the last time I looked. (a month ago) Some things here are surprisingly cheap, others wildly overpriced. Ideally one can get by with a minimum of the latter and enjoy more of the former -- That make very happy korea time.
BTW, don't all Canadians get issued a new pair of spectacles whenever they break or lose or outgrow them from that well-funded, cheery national health service of yours? |
Not that I know of (things could have changed since I last checked, I guess). Prescription glasses aren't covered.
I think comparing lettuce to glasses is a little skewed since I don't need lettuce to live (other options are available), but I certainly couldn't function without glasses. But you're right, produce is quite expensive compared to the west.
| Quote: |
| Well hansen, you can set up a business and sell cheap Korean glasses to the masses. I double dare you to. |
Nah, I'm not that business savvy or business-minded, but it's not a bad idea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 3:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| BTW, don't all Canadians get issued a new pair of spectacles whenever they break or lose or outgrow them from that well-funded, cheery national health service of yours? |
Har har  . Not unless you're a native, brother!
I have rotten eyesight and glasses for me are fiendishly expensive in Canada. I have no idea why I can buy excellent glasses from (as far as I can tell) a competent optician in Busan for 100,000 that would be three times as much or more at home. I've thought of having glasses made for my parents, but without them here for a proper fitting it wouldn't work, and if I simply sent lenses they would have to be made to fit their frames. The only caveat I can see is that the lenses don't seem to last as long here without losing quality or getting scratches, even if I get the best available.
Ken:>
Last edited by Moldy Rutabaga on Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dazed and Confused
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 3:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
I regularly buy frames here and send them back home or take them back to my family when we visit. My ENTIRE family and some of my sister's friends have Korean frames. They take them to their local optomitrist and have lenses put in them. The optomitrist said the Korean frames were the same quality as theirs that they sell for over $100 US.  and I get them here for less than 20,000 won and sometimes cheaper. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
