So of course I dropped a few 100$ on some new sunglasses that had anti-this anti-that.
I bent over somewhere because I was careless
and boom.. they dropped somewhere and are gone. Granted my Maui Jim are supposedly made in Japan, I decided to look up why these sunglasses are so expensive. It's interesting what I found:
One company;
Luxottica produced 46.6 million sunglasses and 26.1 million prescription frames.
The eyewear market is $81 billion expected to reach $130 billion by 2018.
Lexottic, based in Milan purchased Ray Ban in 1999, Oakley in 2007, Vogue, Oliver Peoples, Persol, Alain Mikli, Arnette and REVO. It also has license to Bulgari, Burberry, Chanel, Coach, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Paul Smith, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, Stella McCartney, Tiffany, Tory Burch, Versace and Armani products.
The company has been accused of operating a monopoly on the optical industry and overcharging for its product. They increased the prices of Rayban sunglasses after buying the company as well as temporarily dropping Oakley from its frame design list. This then crashed the company stock value only to pick it up after the crash - not cool but cut-throat business.
It has also been argued that the vision insurance company EyeMed (owned by Luxottica) helps controls the buyers' market.
The kicker: It used to be Italian manufactured.. but like the rest of the world it now manufactures mostly in China. Think about their bottom line after a monopoly and cheap labor!
Im really thinking about walmart no name brands in the future. But I'm a sucker and opted for %50 discount from sunglasses hut. Expensive mistake,
one I won't do again.
Ray-Ban, Oakley, Chanel Or Prada Sunglasses? They're All Made By This Obscure $9B Company