Genuine eyeglass frames on Amazon? < 50% what retailers charge? Legit?

August 11, 2022 3:54 PM

Uggggh this is probably a counterfeit, but I want it to be real. Now is your chance to talk me out of buying these suspiciously inexpensive eyeglass frames on Amazon.

I'm having trouble finding these frames in-network of my vision plan, so I just searched for the model name/number and found them on Amazon. Most places are charging a lot more for these; will I regret it if I buy from this link? Is this some kind of counterfeit / fake thing? Thanks in advance.

posted by amtho to Shopping (13 answers total)

Probably.

Amazon vis a vis third party sellers is kind of a thing of late.
posted by Windopaene at 4:01 PM on August 11, 2022

Response by poster: Probably legit (as in my question title) or probably counterfeit (as in the first line)? Sorry for the irregular framing.
posted by amtho at 4:26 PM on August 11, 2022

Probably counterfeit, but then the question becomes whether that matters. I assume you are not thirsting for that hot Polo Ralph Lauren brand name, just the style. In the end, most frames are commodities and the markup is huge. How much would being out $100 if they're total crap (goodly number of negative ratings on Amazon, but majority seem to be complaining about inauthenticity) be an inconvenience for you?
posted by praemunire at 4:43 PM on August 11, 2022

Response by poster: I would additionally be out the cost of the lenses (which will be made to fit, progressive, with coatings, etc.) which is ... a lot, since my insurance doesn't cover multiple pairs of glasses per year. So, I do want the quality.

Also, the design and appearance will probably differ slightly also, and those slight differences matter.
posted by amtho at 4:45 PM on August 11, 2022

Do you have Prime? If so, they have a "try before you buy" option with these. Then you can take them to a local frame shop for the lenses.

ETA: I'm also only seeing 14 ratings, all positive?
posted by amanda at 4:58 PM on August 11, 2022

Oh, I thought you were buying them to give to your local optician to insert the lenses. In that case, I would not risk it.
posted by praemunire at 5:04 PM on August 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Not outright counterfeit, I think, but a sort of authorized knockoff which is just as inferior as a true counterfeit would be.

I was trying to buy some Gator Grit sandpaper for knife sharpening recently because that brand I’d bought at a NAPA auto parts store had a thick and long lasting silicon carbide coat.

I found a Gator Grit website which showed the same paper I had, but there was no provision for online or mail order sales, and the only thing they’d give me was a list of authorized dealers.

Which was strange, I thought, but I looked on Amazon, and there it was! But when I took a closer look, it was obviously a different product, made in Canada instead of the US, and with terrible reviews.

I believe Gator Grit contracted out the manufacture of their product offered through Amazon because they couldn’t turn a profit making it to the original standards and pay the outrageous chunk Amazon demands at the same time, and also satisfy Amazon's typical demand that the product not be for sale elsewhere at a lower price.
posted by jamjam at 5:06 PM on August 11, 2022

In this case, you sound risk adverse and would not tolerate anything less than legit. If that is the case and it is a 50-50 chance, I would avoid them. But, if it were me, I would take the chance. They are coming from the Polo Ralph store. They could be a model that will be discontinued and they are lightening up on inventory. All brands make stuff for their outlet that is not 100% the same (quality) as what they sell in Soho. It appears as if you can return them. Check them out before having the lenses made to order.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 5:22 PM on August 11, 2022

Response by poster: Oh, I thought you were buying them to give to your local optician to insert the lenses.

That is what I'm doing -- but once the lenses are made, that's it.

I guess I can get the frames, compare them to retail frames (at the out-of-network place that has them near me), and see if the quality is OK before committing to getting lenses made -- I'm just not sure I can evaluate the quality adequately myself.

JohnnyGunn - exactly. That's what I'm going to do. Order placed.

Thanks, y'all. Any tips for evaluating the frame quality when it arrives would be welcome.
posted by amtho at 5:28 PM on August 11, 2022

Response by poster: Also: some of the marketing copy in that listing is weird, as in every single word is capitalized. Makes me wonder if the store is legit -- I know some copycats will make stores with a similar name to the real store.
posted by amtho at 5:30 PM on August 11, 2022

I took a very expensive old pair of plastic frames to my optician to have new lenses installed. They evaluated the frames and said that with old plastic they can become brittle and it might not be successful. They were able to install new lenses and when I went to pick them up, the optician was making an adjustment and they snapped in half! Oops! My point is, that the optician can take a look at them and see if they have any issues with putting in new lenses. You might even call ahead and talk about the possibility, that you're trying to match an old set of frames that you loved and wanted to know if they'd do the lenses for them. But, speaking of, if you have old lenses that you like, you may be able to just get new lenses made for them. And if they aren't brittle plastic.... :D
posted by amanda at 5:36 PM on August 11, 2022

The markup is huge -- in reality, the actual cost of frame production is like $10-20, but Luxottica is a monopolizing racket and drives up all the prices and takes advantage of Western consumers. I think it's fine to buy it, unless you're very risk averse and have $300 to drop. It's also directly from the Polo Ralph Lauren store. I also looked up the model number of your glasses, and can find 6 other stores selling it for around the same price as the ones on Amazon. Either way, you can just buy the frames and have the optician shop look at it, if you want, since there is an Amazon return policy. You can also ask a private optician shop if they have better deal (if they're honest) but I don't know if it will be that much better.

For comparison, my prescription Ray-Bans frame was around $168 at my private optician shop, if that helps.
posted by yueliang at 11:27 PM on August 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Doing a search for that same model number on eBay gives some results—maybe some of those sellers will seem less sketchy than Amazon if you poke around.
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:46 AM on August 12, 2022