Editing Glasses (section)

====United States====
The market for spectacles has been characterized as having highly [[inelastic demand]]. Advertising restrictions in the United States, for example, have correlated with higher prices, suggesting that adverts make the spectacles market more [[Price competition|price-competitive]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Benham |first=Lee |title=The Effects of Advertising on the Price of Eye Glasses |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24100330 |journal=Journal of Law and Economics |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=337–52 |year=<!--October or February, depending on source -->1972 |doi=10.1086/466740 |s2cid=154878241}}</ref> It has also been claimed to be  [[monopolistically competitive]], as in the case of [[Luxottica]].<ref>{{Citation |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Dr Emma |title=8.1 Monopoly |date=2017 |url=https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/uvicmicroeconomics/chapter/8-1-monopoly/ |work=Principles of Microeconomics |language=en-ca |access-date=6 May 2021 |last2=Hutchinson |first2=University of Victoria and |last3=Emma}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Swanson |first=Ana |title=Meet the Four-Eyed, Eight-Tentacled Monopoly That is Making Your Glasses So Expensive |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/anaswanson/2014/09/10/meet-the-four-eyed-eight-tentacled-monopoly-that-is-making-your-glasses-so-expensive/ |work=Forbes |language=en |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Is Luxottica A Monopoly? |date=19 January 2021 |url=https://financhill.com/blog/investing/is-luxottica-a-monopoly |work=Financhill |language=en-US |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref>

There are claims that insufficiently free [[market competition]] inflates the prices of frames, which cost an average of $25–$50 U.S. to make, to an average retail price of $300 in the United States. This claim is disputed by some in the industry.<ref name="snopes">{{Citation |title=Does Luxottica Own 80% of the Eyeglass Industry? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/does-luxottica-own-80-of-the-eyeglass-industry/ |work=snopes.com|date=20 September 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Why are glasses so expensive? |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sticker-shock-why-are-glasses-so-expensive-07-10-2012/1/ |work=[[CBS News]]|date=7 October 2012 }}</ref><ref name="SIXTYMINUTES2012">{{Citation |title=Sticker shock: Why are glasses so expensive? |date=7 October 2012 |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57527151/sticker-shock-why-are-glasses-so-expensive/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008062032/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57527151/sticker-shock-why-are-glasses-so-expensive/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 October 2012 |work=[[60 Minutes]] |publisher=[[CBS News]] |access-date=19 October 2012}}</ref>

The United States also prohibits the sale of glasses unless the user has a recent prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist, whereas in most of the world, glasses and contact lenses can be bought without needing to get a new [[eye exam]] first.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mounk |first=Yascha |date=2019-11-27 |title=The Great American Eye-Exam Scam |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/great-american-eye-exam-scam/602482/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>  This means that Americans who lose or break their glasses may be unable to see well until they can get, and pay for, an appointment with an optometrist.<ref name=":0" />  In most of the world, someone who has lost their glasses merely goes to the nearest store selling glasses and buys a replacement over the counter.<ref name=":0" />