True. But. Even before Luxottica started buying up the industry, glasses were expensive. I worked in the industry in the early 90s (paid for college). We could buy CR-39 bifocal blanks for about $3.50. A frame in the Frames catalog (name brand) was about $10. Tint and UV were about $4 a bottle and would last a week, and that would tint/UV hundreds of lenses. I was making $7.50 and hour and it would take me half an hour to make them in the lab. We'd sell that pair for about $250.