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We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

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Barryg101
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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby Barryg101 » Mon May 20, 2019 12:03 am

If your out on the ocean with your full kite set up I'm sure buying a pair of half decent sunglasses wont leave you penniless. I've went through a lot of cheapies but found spending a bit more gets you a bit stronger frame.

For me the super cheap ones are weak and break easily plus the lenses seem to scratch much faster. I've got a pair for 50€ from decathlon they float too and have had them all season as an instructor and love them . Protection is great and saves my eyes from all day in the sun.



I'd stay away from the 1$ pair, your eyes deserve better

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby slowboat » Mon May 20, 2019 12:25 am

People who complain about how much something costs to make vs. how much a company is selling them for really don't understand basic economics.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby lindseym » Mon May 20, 2019 12:33 am

slowboat wrote:
Sun May 19, 2019 2:59 pm
Bille wrote:
Sat May 18, 2019 12:45 pm
LiP Sunglasses wrote:
Sat May 18, 2019 9:57 am
...
Our Typhoon and Surge frames are both constructed using Grilamid TR90, a Swiss polymer which will never shatter / break into pieces on impact.
...
from : www.lip-sunglasses.com/product/typhoon-clx/


TYPHOON
$218.00 – $228.00

TYPHOON – the classic fit. The most advanced watershade on the market.

Kinda Proud of them there shades ; aren't Ya ?
What's it cost to build them ?

Bille
Lip glasses are the best I have tried for kiting and they should be proud of them. The Surge (same frame as Typhoon) costs $99-125. The Zeiss lens and coatings are what increase the cost of the Typhoon.
Yes - + 1 on the above. I tried tones of specs over the years and the best I have found to date are Lip. I may order another pair of them. To me, your eyes are the most important thing to protect so I dont mind spending the extra money.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby SolarSet » Mon May 20, 2019 7:04 am

HALF wrote:
Sun May 19, 2019 10:45 pm
Primark is selling CE certified(100% uv protecting) sunglasses for 1 euro. How much do you think they cost to manufacture. The materials are incredibly cheap, also Grilamid TR90 sunglasses can be found for 2 usd, and i believe the material itself is around 10-12usd for 1kg.

You can buy a working android game console, with screen, glass protector, battery, cpu, memory and a big amount of plastic for 30usd from china. Think how much it costs to produce a plastic frame.
You do know that CE often stands for China Export? If you don't see quality difference between Primark sunglasses for £1 and original for £100 you are lucky man and please go ahead on buy Primark one. There are people who see difference and they would rather not buy something well made if they can't afford it than buy cheap shit.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby HALF » Mon May 20, 2019 9:24 am

The China Export stuff doesn't work in retail, especially in big chains.
If you really think the production costs differences are 10000% then i have nothing to say. But the prices will keep rising if people keep paying so much.
Look at snowboarding googles, for 90 euros you can buy an Oakley mask, with 2 huge lenses(with their prism technology). And Oakley is owned by Luxottica so their margins are also epic.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby slowboat » Mon May 20, 2019 9:48 am

HALF wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 9:24 am
The China Export stuff doesn't work in retail, especially in big chains.
If you really think the production costs differences are 10000% then i have nothing to say. But the prices will keep rising if people keep paying so much.
Look at snowboarding googles, for 90 euros you can buy an Oakley mask, with 2 huge lenses(with their prism technology). And Oakley is owned by Luxottica so their margins are also epic.
When rational people are allowed to spend their money as they wish, the companies that price their goods appropriately will do well. Those that price their products "too high" will not survive. The companies that are around and growing are the survivors. The power is not with the companies that make the products (they cannot charge whatever they want). The power is with the consumer who has the money.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby badgb21 » Mon May 20, 2019 12:49 pm

When did this forum turn into the pikey scrooge money savers dot com.

We've had IKEA bags and polythene bags on another thread, guys that want all the gear, but don't want to spend too much money and now folks worried in case some entity makes too much profit from the glasses that save their eyes.

I'm sure there is a quality/price point ratio to suit most sensible thinking persons budget.

Alternatively, I suggest a couple of toffee wrappers, paper clips and some tape.
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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby Matteo V » Mon May 20, 2019 3:02 pm

slowboat wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 9:48 am
Those that price their products "too high" will not survive. The companies that are around and growing are the survivors.
Slowy,

Two things wrong with the above....

First, we still have high priced companies in almost every product offering that consumers purchase - especially the luxury ones. Thus the second sentence is not accurate. If you want to pay lots for a brand name, you can. And not only can you pay tons of money for something you could have purchased cheaper, there is often a huge selection of brands to pay waaaayyyyy tooooooo much for.

Second, in a free market, companies that succeed will cater to "want's" instead of "needs". No kiter "needs" a $200 pair of sunglasses for out on the water when $1 sunglasses work almost as well. But many kiters do "want" a $200 pair of sunglasses for a large number of reasons.

1. Perception of quality and function being related to price allows companies to actually sell more by increasing price. Remember Oakley sunglasses back in the day? Their sales model was built on building an expensive product, and then charging 4 times more than that additional construction price justified. This drove the consumer perception that Oakley sunglasses were "better".

2. When you have disposable income, most want to flaunt that. This is a completely natural human trait. A good example is when someone purchases a high end sports car, but does not have the skills to drive it. In the US, the trend is even moving toward pickup trucks falling into this category now. With these trucks base prices more than double that of passenger car, people who never haul anything (and would never let you put something in the bed of the truck because it may get scratched) are just buying them because of how expensive they are. The human desire to flaunt a status symbol is much like a peacock whose beautiful long feathers are for show, but can be detrimental to it's survival.

And there are many more reasons why people will spend more for a comparable product. But the underlying key to the success of high end brands is their ability to slightly differentiate the product so that they are recognized as "genuine". And in this case, the word "genuine" means "I paid lots of money for them because I can".


Overall, I do not believe that this is a bad thing. On a rare occasion, some innovation comes out of the desperation of "high end brands" to differentiate from economical alternatives. So I am happy that a free society works this way. Plus, those that will drop $200 on a pair of sunglasses are wearing a sign above their head that pretty much lays out what their values and/or personality is like.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby Matteo V » Mon May 20, 2019 3:10 pm

slowboat wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 9:48 am
When rational people are allowed to spend their money as they wish,....
Oooo! and I have to add - Where have you ever met a rational person? I never have. And while I try to define myself as a rationalist, that is just a goal or guiding principle. I too, am just human and thus guided by my desires. Even if I desire to be rational, it is an unobtainable goal if seeking it is done because of desire.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby jakemoore » Mon May 20, 2019 5:26 pm

HALF wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 9:24 am
The China Export stuff doesn't work in retail, especially in big chains.
In the US we see these knock off inexpensive China export sunglasses for sale in kiosks in the mall and on spinners in our gas stations.

The wholesale -> retail markup percentage is much greater on the gas station sunglasses. For both budget and premium, somebody has to sit in a store collecting a paycheck ready to sell the glasses, restock the display, and handle any returns.

What really amazes me is that Sunglasses Hut and budget sunglasses kiosks in the mall coexist in the same ecosystem.
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