Rob Moss presents the results of OPTICIAN's second annual survey of contact lens prices on the internet.
Rob Moss presents the results of optician's second annual survey of CL prices on the internet
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| www.justlenses.com was one of the cheapest sites found |
According to the NOP poll commissioned by the College of Optometrists and optician, only 2 per cent of those who wore lenses purchased them over the internet. However, with some of the prices available, and growing use of home PCs, this proportion looks set to increase.
LATEST LENS PRICING
On April 26 and 27, optician researchers logged on to 15 websites (Table 1) to record the prices of three daily disposable brands (Johnson & Johnson's 1-Day Acuvue, Ciba Vision's Focus Dailies and Bausch & Lomb's SofLens One Day) and four silicone hydrogels (J&J's Acuvue Advance, Ciba's Focus Night & Day and its O2Optix, and B&L's PureVision).
For the daily disposables we noted down the price of 90, 180 and 360 pairs of contact lenses corresponding to three, six and 12 months' supply, assuming daily wear. For the silicone hydrogels we recorded the price of three, six and 12 pairs of lenses for all but Acuvue Advance, for which we noted the price of six, 12 and 24 pairs. These amounts also correspond to three, six and 12 months' supply, assuming the products are worn for their recommended schedule.
When looking at the prices of daily disposable lenses we looked at the best rate available for the purchase of 30 pairs of lenses. This was usually achieved when purchasing one year's supply although some sites offered the same price regardless of whether you purchased 90, 180 or 360 pairs of lenses.
For silicone hydrogels, prices were collected for three, six and 12 months' supply, assuming each brand was worn for a full month, except Acuvue Advance which was assumed to be replaced fortnightly. The best rate for a single pair of lenses was then calculated, again usually from the price for one year's supply.
No contact lenses were actually purchased, but for every price recorded the researcher went to the final stage of the order process in order to ensure all delivery charges and any other hidden costs were included in the total charge. One factor that is not taken into account is the import duty that could be imposed on product being sent from the US to the UK.
Most of the 15 sites surveyed were UK-based but six were based in the US. Of these, five charged the customer in US dollars. On April 26, anyone making a purchase using a Barclaycard would have been charged at a rate of £1=$1.8542, so this was taken as a representative exchange rate.
DAILY DISPOSABLES
For all 15 sites surveyed this year, Table 2 shows the maximum, minimum and average price for 30 pairs of each daily disposable contact lens brand. There is also the average price of the lenses restricted to the original 12 websites, surveyed last year.One of the new sites survey this year, justlenses.com unearthed the cheapest prices found yet on the web: £13.84 per 30 pairs of Focus Dailies and £14.20 for 30 pairs of SofLens One Day. Another newly surveyed site, lensdirect.com, offered 1-Day Acuvue at £23.39 per 30 pairs. At the upper end of the scale, lensesbymail.com offered the highest prices on the web, despite offering 'up to 80 per cent off retail prices', with its best rates for 30 pairs being £42.40, £24.07 and £22.07 for 1-Day Acuvue, Focus Dailies and SofLens One Day respectively.
The average prices found across all 15 sites for each lens were £29.94 (1DA), £18.34 (FD) and £18.47 (SL). Stripping out the American effect and restricting the analysis to only UK sites (or those sites charging in sterling and making no mention of overseas delivery), the averages were £32.17, £20.08 and £19.91 respectively.
Four of the 12 sites surveyed for a second time offered the three daily disposable contact lenses at identical prices to one year ago. The other eight had changed at least one price. Table 3 shows the highest increases and the highest decreases in price found across the 12 websites surveyed both years. It also shows the average price difference from last year to this year for each brand. A second mean value represents the average change across all 12 sites, but assigns the same exchange rate (ER) as last year to strip out the effect of the weakening US dollar against the pound.
The most extreme example of a price increase occurred on coastalcontacts.co.uk where 1DA increased 11.8 per cent, FD by 7.0 per cent and SL 12.1 per cent. At visiondirect.com, however, while the
J&J lens price remained static (up just 0.1 per cent), Ciba Vision's and Bausch & Lomb's daily disposable lens prices decreased by 26.5 and 24.7 per cent respectively (or 24.3 and 22.5 per cent at constant exchange rates).
Across all 15 websites, average daily disposable lens prices have decreased. 1DA fell on average 1.3 per cent, FD declined 2.4 per cent and SL were 2.6 per cent cheaper than they were last year. At constant exchange rates these differences are -0.7 per cent, -1.8 per cent and -2.1 per cent.
Looking only at the UK sites, 1DA prices have fallen 0.9 per cent, FD prices have increased 0.2 per cent and SL cost almost exactly the same this year as they did last (down just 0.04 per cent).
SILICONE HYDROGELS
Prices of the four silicone hydrogel contact lens brands on market varied from as little as £3.88 for a pair of J&J's Acuvue Advance with Hydraclear to £16.50 for a pair of either PureVision or Focus Night & Day. Table 4 shows the maximum, minimum and average online retail prices for each lens. The US website aclens.com was the cheapest place to buy Acuvue Advance at £3.88 per pair (average £4.90), while lensdirect.com was the cheapest for O2Optix at £4.47 per pair (average £7.99). Justlenses.com offered the cheapest Focus Night & Day at £9.52 per pair (average £13.60), while getlenses.com could provide PureVision at £11.25 per pair (average £13.49).CONCLUSIONS
The prices of contact lenses vary enormously on the web. Some supposedly highly discounted products are in fact on sale at prices similar - higher in some cases - to those found on the British high street. On average, however, prices of daily disposable contact lenses are falling, albeit by only 1 or 2 per cent. This average decline in price comprises a combination of increases, decreases and no change in price. In the most extreme case, our research found that the prices of two daily disposable lens brands on one website had fallen by one quarter since last year. Prices of silicone hydrogels, surveyed this year for the first time, were quite erratic, with the most expensive example costing nearly three times the least expensive.