Crap...now I want too expensive sunglasses

[AustinInDallas]

I lost these last week on my honeymoon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[vi edit]

Love my Maui Jim prescriptions. They even spent 3 days being tossed around in an aggressive ocean bay before some local diver kid was able to retreive them for me. I lost them when a huge wave came in and took me off guard when I was on vacation this spring in St Lucia. After three days being tossed around in sand and waves the frames still look good as new. The lenses have a few tiny scuffs but otherwise look great. I've bought cheaper ones in the past and don't think they'd come out as favoarable as that.

Plus Maui Jim is local to the area and the lenses are cut about 5 minutes from where I work, so it's nice to support local businesses

 

[nehalem256]

I have a pair of $200 ray bans and $90 bolles... both are excellent and have lasted years. Would rather have these than be wearing and breaking a $20 set every few months.

Now, plastic $400 unpolarized chanel/fendi/gucci glasses I have a hard time understanding.

Do you use you sunglasses for hand-to-hand combat or something?

I think my sunglasses were ~$15 at target... 6 years ago. They are still fine.

 

[alkemyst]

$250 is hardly that expensive for sunglasses. My beater New Wayfarers were around $150.

 

[Fritzo]

I lost these last week on my honeymoon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Found them!

 

[AustinInDallas]

Found them!

They followed me from Texas to Mexico!

 

[zephyrprime]

For some reason when I think Prada it seems a brand only women would wear.

P.S. to answer your question: Supply and demand.

Definitely not supply and demand. Maybe demand, but not supply. Classic economics fails to explain luxury pricing since the supply of such products is essentially unlimited just like any other article of clothing/eyeglasses/purse. The real reason why these products can command a high price is supply and demand of the desire to be socially elitist. That is the real reason why these products can demand a such a high price. People want to set themselves apart from and be better than the pleebs.

 

[Imp]

I've had Oakley Juliet's since 2001, awesome sunglasses. I just picked up some Nike ones at Costco, build quality doesn't look to be as sturdy but the optics are very good.

I wanted a pair of these, but they are built for.... white noses + facial structures. The "people" it's designed for generally have large nose bridges and more recessed eye sockets, which the Juliets probably help cap like goggles.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Those look like something you have to wear with a sleeveless t-shirt and jorts. The Prada ones I tried on are men's---they have men's and women's lines.

Naturally, jorts are the ideal pants since they are durable enough to last a long time and they allow the legs to experience air flow so that one does not suffer infinite discomfort due to heat.

Now, sleeveless T shirt is better than regular T shirt, but, it's gotta be V neck, and it needs a pocket for the phone.

Anyhow, my point was simply that I do not understand the point of expensive sunglasses.


It's not comfort, lots of expensive sunglasses are heavy framed or made from a material that will slide down onto ones nose too easily.

It's not "value for dollar" as even if they last much longer than "cheap" sunglasses, at $5 a pair, you can get a shitton of cheap sunglasses for the price of 1 set of expensive glasses.

I know it may make sense to pay an extra $5 for polarized lenses.
I know it also may cost an extra 25 cents to 50 cents to buy ones with decent hinges so that they do not snap in half.


But, are people paying $30+ for sunglasses just for style or looks? Or is there more to it.

 

[Fritzo]

Naturally, jorts are the ideal pants since they are durable enough to last a long time and they allow the legs to experience air flow so that one does not suffer infinite discomfort due to heat.

Now, sleeveless T shirt is better than regular T shirt, but, it's gotta be V neck, and it needs a pocket for the phone.

Anyhow, my point was simply that I do not understand the point of expensive sunglasses.


It's not comfort, lots of expensive sunglasses are heavy framed or made from a material that will slide down onto ones nose too easily.

It's not "value for dollar" as even if they last much longer than "cheap" sunglasses, at $5 a pair, you can get a shitton of cheap sunglasses for the price of 1 set of expensive glasses.

I know it may make sense to pay an extra $5 for polarized lenses.
I know it also may cost an extra 25 cents to 50 cents to buy ones with decent hinges so that they do not snap in half.


But, are people paying $30+ for sunglasses just for style or looks? Or is there more to it.

I was in that boat too...why so expensive? But seriously...these glasses felt like they were made for my face. They look awesome as hell too...my wife actually went "wooooowwwww...." the frames have these intricate metal inlays on them, and they have those "fexi-hinges" that self adjust and are break-proof.

Still, I could see $100 for these things, but at close to $300...I guess I'm not in that class.

 

[slightlyhuman]

i've bought several pairs from midwestshades.com

i suppose i spend money on items people might think i'm crazy for doing so(actually, no, not really) but i just can't bring myself to spend that much on sunglasses. they break, they get lost. too big of a liability, ie. the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

 

[disappoint]

For some reason when I think Prada it seems a brand only women would wear.

P.S. to answer your question: Supply and demand.

Definitely not supply and demand. Maybe demand, but not supply. Classic economics fails to explain luxury pricing since the supply of such products is essentially unlimited just like any other article of clothing/eyeglasses/purse. The real reason why these products can command a high price is supply and demand of the desire to be socially elitist. That is the real reason why these products can demand a such a high price. People want to set themselves apart from and be better than the pleebs.

 

[Midwayman]

But, are people paying $30+ for sunglasses just for style or looks? Or is there more to it.

Yup. I've never had a pair of cheap sunglasses that felt square and comfortable. Plus the lenses in them always seem like they have a thin coat of vaseline smeared on them. $50-60ish seems to be about where quality starts. It may or may not be important to you.

 

[Chaotic42]

But, are people paying $30+ for sunglasses just for style or looks? Or is there more to it.

I'm sure that a lot of people do, but I can say that at least for Costas, there is a real benefit for the cost. I live near the 30th parallel and go out off the coast or into Lake Ponchartrain to go fishing for hours at a time, usually in the summer. With every pair of <$20 sunglasses I've used, I get tons of glare, too much light, and way too much eye fatigue. With Costas, which are about $250 for the high end (or nearly $500 for prescription, which I need), I can stay out all day and it's like being in a pleasantly lit covered patio all day. Even in July.

With the lifetime warranty, $250 for quality sunglasses isn't that bad. Are they marked up because they're a brand name and "cool"? I'm sure. Do they actually function on a different level from $20 glasses? Absolutely.

 

[ElFenix]

polarized glass lenses in frames that sit properly on your face are worth money.

 

[TheVrolok]

With the lifetime warranty, $250 for quality sunglasses isn't that bad. Are they marked up because they're a brand name and "cool"? I'm sure. Do they actually function on a different level from $20 glasses? Absolutely.

Pretty much this. I used to wear 15-25 dollar polarized plastic things from Walmart/CVS/wherever and then I bought my Revos and Maui Jims. Much better fit, much better quality, much better optics. Are they marked up a bit? I'm sure they are, but they are also a large step up from the 20 dollar plastic stuff.

 

[TwiceOver]

Wish I could justify nice sunglasses.

 

[dr150]

That's a woman brand.

Get manly ones
http://www.amazon.com/DPG54-2C-Perfo.../dp/B000FP8IGS

Though I think these are really only intended for when you are building or demoing stuff in the sun....

Wanna look like a man, get these:

If you wanna look like a douchenozzle, get some Ed Hardy's:

 

[vi edit]

I'm sure that a lot of people do, but I can say that at least for Costas, there is a real benefit for the cost. I live near the 30th parallel and go out off the coast or into Lake Ponchartrain to go fishing for hours at a time, usually in the summer. With every pair of <$20 sunglasses I've used, I get tons of glare, too much light, and way too much eye fatigue. With Costas, which are about $250 for the high end (or nearly $500 for prescription, which I need), I can stay out all day and it's like being in a pleasantly lit covered patio all day. Even in July.

Agreed. The optical quality and lack of fatigue with my Maui Jim prescriptions are night and day from some of the cheaper no-namer brands I had used in the past. The MJ's are so light half of the time I don't even realize I have them on.

 

[alkemyst]

polarized glass lenses in frames that sit properly on your face are worth money.

It's not always polarized that are best. I have a few pairs in each.

I do like glass lenses more...properly fitted glasses is very important.

 

[rh71]

Come spend a July day with me off the beach in the Gulf of Mexico. You can bring your Chinese $8 lead-plastic Walmart specials and we'll see how you fare.

do they offer little to no protection? Are their claims false?

I only have $150 ones now because my wife gets free Bloomy's gift cards. I would never pay that much for glasses. Or jeans, etc.

 

[vi edit]

do they offer little to no protection? Are their claims false?

Cheap shades don't block out as much UV as high quality lenses do.

 

[Chaotic42]

do they offer little to no protection? Are their claims false?

I only have $150 ones now because my wife gets free Bloomy's gift cards. I would never pay that much for glasses. Or jeans, etc.

Given my quasi-random sampling of cheap sunglasses, I am personally confident that their claims are overblown if they claim that they block as much UV as the Costa 580 Blue Mirror lenses. Beyond that, I can't say. I can't prove that there isn't some pair of excellent $10 sunglasses out there, but I would expect that I'd have to spend more than the cost of my Costas to find them. Therefore the Costas are a better deal for me.

I don't buy quality jeans, so I don't know how valid your comparison is. I still get the feeling that you're unconvinced and still trying to argue that there's no value to spending hundreds of dollars on sunglasses. For me, there is. The difference is very real and I suspect that I would choose the 580 Blue lenses over anything from Walmart every time. I'm open to being proven wrong.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

$4 for a pair at Dollar General. Not polarized, but a great replacement for my $10 pair from Circle K about 4 years ago. I have a hard time spending more than $50 on sunglasses, and for that price they'd better be polarized.

 

[Apex]

do they offer little to no protection? Are their claims false?

I only have $150 ones now because my wife gets free Bloomy's gift cards. I would never pay that much for glasses. Or jeans, etc.

Honestly, it depends. Your cheap, common, window glass already blocks out 80-85% of UV light, and I don't know of any sunglasses made of such poor material.

If you look at the low end choices like Timberland's smoked lens sunglasses ($15.99 from Groupon), they block on 99% of UV light. You can spend almost 2x that at $28 shipped (from Rakuten every day, not on sale) and get their polarized version with base curve 8, and pretty much the same 99% UV blocking.