As far as mark ups in practices vs online retail shops, it is touch and go. Some private practices need the mark up to be able to make payroll due to the many employees plus education loans they have. In my setting of corporate employed clinic, I don’t set the fees, but we are the cheapest in town with the largest selection. Typically you can get 2 pairs of eyeglasses for about half of what 1 pair costs somewhere else. And I’ve seen the product, it isn’t all cheap materials with huge mark ups. There is quality product in there, so it makes it an even better deal ultimately.

Furthermore, the doctor provides a service and they need to be paid for that service. It is unfortunate that our student loans are a second mortgage (in that case my house is cheaper than my student loans), but that is how it goes.

Danny G is right. I wish I wasn’t so self absorbed as to always want to save money but what can you do ?? We all have to save where we can, only wish our governments felt the same !! I love the old fashioned hardware store where the old guy, usually, knew everything there was to know about all the things in the shop and you could buy however many you needed and not be stuck with some prepackaged item.

In the UK there is a hardware chain, I forget the name now, something like Homebase, where they started to hire Old Aged Pensioners simply to answer people’s questions like ” How do I fix that leaking tap?” These guys would love to chat, walk around the store, showing you the tools, the parts you need and even show you what you needed to do on some of the fittings in the store. These guys were paid next to nothing, they were happy coz they had something to do and they felt useful and they could mix with people, and the customer was happy for the same reason, they could talk to somebody who knew more than “Isle 6 I think ” Sadly, that scheme was stopped because some idiot customers used to sue the store because they bungled what the helper had told them. I used to enjoy talking to these guys. The real sad thing I could be one of those guys now !!!!

I used a company in India and had a pair of glasses for under $25 out the door. A few things I’d note from my experience:

- Measuring your Pupil Distance isn’t that easy (and is a necessity for good fitting glasses and correct lenses). If possible, have your eye doctor do this for you.

- Customer service isn’t all that good. But I expected that..

Overall, I was quite pleased. I’ve since recommended it to my siblings, both of whom have bought pairs for occasional use.

Hope your readers are also inspired!

But I want to comment on the bogus poster – you’re not alone Len, I had one myself back in November. I’m willing to bet I’m a bigger dope than you, because the person who wrote the post on my site posed as an attractive girl, with her own website, and the post itself was solid. I should have guessed since the given last name was “Lohan”, but like I said, I’m a bigger dope than you are.

Actually, it was the Lohan thing that got me suspicious. I tracked “her” visits and found they came from India! When I questioned the poster about the last name, she turned into a he, and didn’t want anyone using the given website for contact.

Needless to say, I pulled the post, hopefully wiser for the experience.
.-= Kevin@OutOfYourRut´s last blog ..Buying vs Renting a Home – Its Not All About Money =-.

@Kevin@OoutOfYourRut, OMG, I just got an email from Jennifer “Lohan” this morning! I replied asking for more info and haven’t heard back–thanks for letting me know.
.-= Susan Tiner´s last blog ..People: Pay Someone Else to Care! =-.