Good products can change systems

Glasses can get very expensive, especially if you aren’t covered by insurance. It’s not unusual to see a pair of frames and lenses cost $1,000 or more. The thing is, glasses aren’t expensive to make. Economist Ryan McDevitt suggests it costs around $20 to manufacture a pair, but he’s seen glasses get marked up by 80%; sometimes even as high as 1,000%. Today, I bought my third pair of glasses from Warby Parker for $200. To me, Warby Parker represents abundance; they sell good designs at a lower markup, which means a better price for the end customer. It’s been able to do this because their team designs its own glasses, and sells through its ecommerce store (as well as brick and mortar retail now). The majority of its business involves selling directly to customers. The team doesn’t believe in marking their prices up as much as the other companies, so they don’t. My first pair were my main pair of glasses for a couple of years; the second was a pair of backup glasses, and the third will…