People normally change specs once a year some even more, sunglass maybe change even more.

But many times i see Spectacle shops opening in really remote place, or shopping center area where not many people passby, usually i see only the staff are in the shops, Spectacle shop is not like IT shop can focus on online sales and needs walk in business, so i'm wondering how these shops actually survive?

The profit margin may be high for the frame & lens but without sufficient sales still how they cover the rental, salaries & utility bills?

I'm talking about those smaller individual shops not big shops that open in prime locations like Paris Miki, Focus Point, England Optical.

I don't think people who launder money would bother opening spectacle shops so how they survive with such little customer flow?

spectacle frame are very cheap like RM30 a piece for any brand, but they sell that for hundreds of bucks, so that's how they survive despite lower demand

-profit margin is high for specs & lens
- return regular customers
- contact lens
- accessories

Main source income of from the sales of frame and contact lenses..

i in seberang jaya shop ,trusted shop ,

he nvr simply mark up the power like in bagan woman shop. (my sister spec andn lens easily 600-800 from the bagan shop.

the thing is i replace one lens on right , the wife put screw on the right , and slipped make my left lens calar ,

my father tell dont make a fuss , replaced a left side with no power rm50 (empty 0 degree lens one side for rm50?).


now a day everyone a gadget freak , gaming and high computer usage.

until kids all in primary school already need specs.

u think is bad business ?

This post has been edited by myva: Nov 18 2012, 02:17 AM

But everytime i passby those shop no customers one, not including those in prime shopping malls la, like very remote or secluded areas for example Scotts garden 2nd floor, that area hardly got shoppers walk around. Expenses should be at least 7k a month so how they sell so many specs/contacts to even cover the cost?

And if the margin is really that high, cost rm30 sell few hundred then other shops will be competitive already especially online private sellers.

This post has been edited by advocado: Nov 18 2012, 02:17 AM

go pasar malam, find gooding frame, bring to optical shop buy lens & ask 'em to fit the lenses.

What you trying to say? Ur answer got nothing to do with the topic le...

there's a row of shophouses in ipoh, 6 different optical shops on the same row since many years ago and it's not on a busy street.

money launder one i think.

a spectacle shop that can hire 3-4 people work 6 days full time ,

i dont think is bad business

owh nth, juz saying. u can get some pretty nice frames @ pasar malam. will work with
legit lenses too. no need spend much on branded stuff.

working with mafia?

hell would i know...
the next thing is to ask ur business lecturer what is bargain and demand section
and dont sleep in a class pls..

OK but i'm not asking about how to get cheap specs. Pasar malam fram not long lasting one. Sometimes bengkok somemore.

if you don't know don't need to answer. thx.

dang one cant take critics ...

u wanna explain explain properly, dun simply say pple sleep in class. u think everybody study business, or have the chance to go to college meh?

supply demand, if the shop whole day only few people walk pass how they get good business? somemore secluded new shopping malls got old customers meh? just wondering cannot be money laundry coz laundry usually do those ah beng business one.

i work in spectacle shop before & to tell you the truth, they actually earns more than what people think.

earn from:
-returning customers
-contact lens, solution, etc
-sunglasses

but most importantly is from the lenses & frame that they sell. The price for the frame is actually 2-3x more than the original price & yes that is just the frame. Havent include the profit they make from the lens. Some more there are customers who change their frame like every month..must be some richfag or something but he returned to the shop many times & change spectacle so my boss earn like that lor, but of course returning customers reduce the price so that he come again...

I saw the book where my boss record the price for each frames & from the sales i can say the profit margin is very high. So yeah...they can survive but if new business its harder la coz not much returning customers....like the shop i worked before is very old so many trusted old customers go back....i know coz he keep the customers record details & everytime i need to go dig up...so mafan

thats why, what u do when u got no customer? i dont take business..
but i always seen and follow business...

u got talent in business, why dont u do it?

woow..please don't come and snatch my bowl weh

Today I learned...

matiko95 you need to stop posting before people start reporting you.

have a nice day 2".

no need to warn, just report me pls...
i told u what is important...

pls report me...

Good explanation but not quite the answer as i understand old shops and shops with good location usually no problem getting customers. But recently i notice smaller shops opening in less prime spots so even lunch time quite empty, so how they tahan?

Also if the frame margin is that high, why won't competitors go on cut throat price war? Or at least you'd see online private sellers selling it at maybe 70% of retail price? But you don't see that wo.

I believe the lens margin is actually higher.

i don't think u told us anything useful.

regards.

Cost RM30, sell RM 300..

After I found out about this, I swear never to buy glasses priced above RM70 (not that I have before). I also find people who bought glasses for hundreds of ringgit to be stupid.

its not that high.. usually they have their distributors on the other side of the internet that can supply them or selling for them
on the internet... thats why the frame is not a price war.. they usually put higher price at unique frame...

but if the margin is like what people say so big, there leaves alot of room to reduce price to gain business, end up cut throat unless they all own by same owner.

also private sellers like you and me would be able to offer frames at even cheaper price becoz no shop, but you don't see that. other things like computer stuff due to competition margin quite small already.

unless distributor make it clear no price war but i don't think possible.

smaller new shops wont tahan long, there were few competitors opened near the shop i worked before and after few months close down coz cant compete. Mainly its because the shop is new, if you wanted to buy a spectacle will you go to a new shop that you never heard of before compare to a old 1 next door? Are you willing to risk your glasses power to be determined by someone who you are not even really sure qualified or not compare to someone else next door who have so many years of experiences?

Yes price war is going on but my boss dont get involved in those, only major branches like focus point etc do that. They got all sort of school sales la this that but the sales they do is on ugly/cheap frames. Last time a competitor did cut price to challenge my boss shop, in the end he got angry and made 0 profit on all the frames. Major sales, few months went by and the shop had to close down. So as a competitor you cant simply cut prices also...

My boss make the most profit on expensive branded stuff, like ray ban, zerox frame, sunglasses etc...it can cost up to rm1k just for 1 sunglasses and the profit you know la

Online sales is a different story, it dosent really work out for spectacle because if you want to buy spectacle how you going to check your eye power? There are some customer who bought frame online & come to make lens but even buying online frames is risky because different frames fits different head, we all got different size & shape face so need to try physically in order to find the matching one...

Cost really rm30 ah, the rm300 brand consider expensive frames already, like this those rm150 frame only cost like rm10??? Then the distributor & manufacturer make peanuts???

also yeah you cant simply reduce the price, distributors will check they usually have a limit that you cant sell this particular frame lower than this specified price...

that depends on customer.. even i seen in lowyat still they use to sell ray ban, uv protection glasses with power, its like goreng pisang..
when i see the actual shop, i dont believe it is like a ghost shop...

Last time I see boxes (stock) coming in.. average RM30 lah the cost.. sell for hundreds, dont take my word too literal lah .. It's just sticks of metal/plastic, it shouldn't cost very much..

just wondering for a rm1k rayban how much is the cost actually, rayban themselves would wanna make big profit also right? unless you say, bootleg la...

nowadays you can go shop test the frame, then buy the frame online.

i'm sure selling frames only or sunglass is easier than selling it with glass. If the margin is really that high, i'm sure private sellers would be willing to sell at 60-70% market price the buyer will still save alot when they take it to old shop to do glass right?

but new shop also can get customers, coz many people move to big cities so dun have familiar shops anyway, so with attractive promotions and good service can also.

Just many these shops the location is really secluded, which means less likely customers will walk pass let alone go in. Some really kesian swap fly but can still tahan very long.

Or maybe they already move into online sales so they make alot of deals online. Maybe they sell in lyn also.

hmm, distributor can only limit when them, but if they drop price behind their back they cannot do anything especially online sales.

but i don't see any sellers do that, not even on ebay. Those that sell dirt cheap are usually selling bootlegs.

i'm sure if cost is rm30, retail at rm1000, you will see people selling it at rm300, still alot of profit le... not like each rayban got tag so distributor can monitor who is doing what.

usually the distributor gets it cheap, but when go to retail should not be like you say 300% profit very big, business usually 10-20% profit consider high already.

which makes me wonder like handbags how much % they are making off cost price...

Interesting topic I would like to know also

yeah depends on customers but even ray ban sunglasses got sizes. If you know your size then sure you can buy online but usually not everyone knows their size. They usually would like to try it on first then only buy which suits the best. Plus sunglasses usually is bought as a gift in the place i work, so yeah wife will come in & start trying for the husband etc...

rm1k i was referring to zerox, but for ray ban depends lor...different models different price...some range from 350-450 & some higher... distributor them self already set and make the profit, then they will give a recommended price the sunglasses should sell to the shop. Its then up the the shop whatever price he want to put...some shop sells expensive some cheaper due to the rent lor....some just simply put really high price for new models....etc...

thats why when you are a sales men you need to be smart to read the person. If the person is not going to buy you can know so dont layan that person lor....also usually we ask them to check their power first....if they refuse then thats a sign they not interested in buying actually. Its all business man....you need to get involved in it to know....

yes but the world dosent work like that....many of my customers are old chinese pipul....all return back the the old shop because we give good advice, etc....its all about customer service also....new shops usually put inexperience young workers...they dont know how to handle customers...and you cant simply reduce the price... disturbor will check & if they find out they will blacklist you...

also it depends on the month....usually holiday, or weekends got customers...weekdays people busy working...no time to bring kids out for eye check etc...sunglasses etc usually people buy as gifts like christmas present, deepavali etc...

this is why you are wrong, each ray ban got its unique tag....they can track if they want. Its not that hard actually....i dont know about online sales i am referring to physical sales but yeah distributor will control so you cant simply reduce dirt cheap.

There is also grade AA ray ban....for those who dont know much, easy to fool them lol....of course we dont lol....there is even few old model ray ban sunglasses that is BL....BL yo....its very rare to find BL models anymore....limited stock though....you go any other shop and ask them for BL models its most likely they dont have

With most comapanies giving allowance for optical i doubt these shops cant survive. Every year the allowance is renewed hence yearly almost all glasses wearing employees will change their glasses.

Behind every spectacle shop is actually an optometrist lab where they tested all kind of 3d dimension on human eye and every eye tests results will be pass to the examiner

And those lab are sponsored by big corporate like lg,sony,samseng

I haven't been changing my spectacle for 6 years already.
I think it's time for new one already.

interesting and useful info, many thanks!

BTW wat is BL?
and how to know wat wat grade is the RayBan?

this

their margin is like more than 1000% for frame you know

Mykita
Ic Berlin
Porshe design
Tag hueur
Hmm

Then those that bought mykita etc Kena potong?

kena potong or not, thats how the business world mang. it all depends on your greed after minus all the cost.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424700n

Just watched it.. Thanks man...
Now I know why they have Real Madrid name in the shop...

lol 1 spectacle really mahal 300-400 bucks,thats the mid end one

pasar malam , road show, school link...

1000% profit is really crazy, i doubt there are many business out there that can do 100% profit or even 50%.

if you research harder, you will shock with the fact

Spec are in high prices , due to our costing also higher compare to others business .
eg :
computer refractometer might cost a around RM30k
Machinery inside refraction room might cost around RM30k
Machinery to cut lens might cost RM100k
Rental , Optical shop have to be rent at place which is obvious , meanwhile rental sure exceed > RM8k
Round-up if you want to own a optical shop . RM400k capital is a must .

** unless you running a low end optical shop .

BL is from USA, last time ray ban is from usa then company bankrupt or something and italy bought over...nowdays all the ray ban is from italy if i am not mistaken...this is what i learn when i was working part time la....from italy is label RB...its engraved to the lens at the right side if i am not mistaken...like a signature...need to look closely to notice...some prefer the USA models due the the lens quality thats why some people are still finding BL models but its super hard...limited old stock only left...

its not easy to know about grade AA and original...just like perfume got grade AA also...very hard to smell the difference since they smell the same. if you deal with ray ban many times then only you can know the difference by the look and feel of it...

the gold man come liao..

come to kecoh only , Just want to tell them Teh O Ais also 1000% profit

ok la so you enjoy 200-300% profit, quite reasonable rite?

think tooo muchh , i wanna change my career already
since so much people interested here, who wanna buy over my company ?

Profit margin for spectacle shop is huge la...even if they sell 5 spectacles a day they should survive...

rest assured the earlier kids are exposed to gadgets and pressure to perform in school (aka more classes at earlier tender age of 3 /4 )...... prelavence of shortsightedness will increase.

And dont forget those getting older majority will need reading glasses as well.

haha, there's alot of high profit margin business to do .
watch , dental , farmasi ,shooting ...etc

my friends works as videographer , for wedding one .

one time shooting * for 2 days
+ editing = average RM3000 ~ RM5000

cost ?
a videocamera , some machinery , car , petrol , a part-timer staff & video editing software .

Usually in terms of margin, the distributor would have taken a big chuck in terms of volume sales, before that still got manufacturer & brand company taking big portion of the profit, so when optical shops get the stock the cost should not be that low to allow over few hundreds or thousands % profit right? If the retail profit so high why won't distributor increase their profit margin in the end everyone still make alot.

If you say the glass has higher profit margin i can understand as most shops do their glasses or have special shop do that and usually normal glass cost more than normal frames.

But then your numbers already gave us the insight the startupcosst & running cost, so how many glasses & frames you need to sell each month just to cover the running cost?

My question is on those smaller private shops that are not located in prime areas. Maybe they rely alot on school plans etc but then there are so many competitors around also eyeing on such bulk orders, so smaller shops that takes less stock means their cost is higher than big shops in terms of stocking, so i'm wondering what they do to counter the less customer flow & higher stock price disadvantage.

If you talk about those cheaper clothing shops that sells rm20 a piece, their cost is probably very cheap maybe rm5 per piece or less but that is due to lesser quality and crazy China suppliers that's selling it dirt cheap. I know some China factories actually selling their stuff close to cost price, but i guess the big bosses doesn't know about it or there's hidden reason.

This is really an eye-opener!! That company literally monopolise the whole eye-wear industry!!

yeap , nice say , just like Rayban & Oakley , profit even lesser than 80% .
& there's alot of terms for branded , you can't just take 1 pcs or 2pcs , you need to take whole set in Cash on Delivery terms . That's the problem .

Small private shop which not located in prime areas , same things goes to selling price & consumer buying power .

People will look for mid or low range glasses & quality if your shop at hulu area ** like Package one .
Meanwhile Optical shop in KLCC / Pavilion can easily sell 1 pair Spectacles around RM1000-RM2000
** My friends who work at Optical shop Pavilion , sold 1 pair Cartier spec RM15k last weekend .

yeap , luxotica , even their salesman also quite Lan Ci one

The thing is people need to know your shop is at ulu place and got good deal, but most of these shop i ran into, if i didn't walk pass i wouldn't have known. I don't see banners near the escalator or promotions whatsoever.

You know i go shopping center try to cover all areas to check them out, normal people don't, they just jalan jalan see what they saw.

but if you go to those stand-alone or random shop, how do you know

a) what they sell is genuine?
b) if they're good in what they do, not ceh kai qualification?
c) if the shop bankrupt, where to service/claim warranty??

one rayban 1000+, u say le?

This post has been edited by wilsonjay: Nov 18 2012, 01:44 PM

yeap, as usual ,every business has it's own marketing one .

optical shop is a high profit with low demand business
one day 10 customer is consider very good already . meanwhile if you open restaurant , one day 100 customer also you might still rugi .

even like England Optical big company also can bankrupt .

I only buy Oakley from these small shop and then they write fake receipt for me so I claim from company medical policy. That's how I support them

I put my trust to a lovely shop in ss2

a)b)hmm then you're wrong .
Focus Point Franchise shop, MOG , Bolton Optical , 100vision etc
are selling fake item too .

c) Right the moment only Oakley given 1 year warranty . non of others brand givin warranty .
if you bought oakley from this shop and they close down , you can try contact revelstoke Malaysia sdn bhd for claim ** Authorise dealer

fffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
now i know. i'm lucky coz never own a pair of overprice sunglasses.
thanx for the link.

Haha.. ur question is one of my research during form 6 last few month. In sibu here got a shop that called "guo ji" or they call it international.. just a not-so-big shop that sell spectacles.. all of sibu people go there buy glasses got other spectacle shop open also but they all rather go to that "guo ji".

I interviewed the tokey lo.. and ask him things so that i can make it as an essay one way to keep the shop going on is Treat your customer equally. Not racist or anything. Price is negotiable and many more.. but to me i feel that the key is Customer Satisfaction. and after that i asked how much u guys earn per month.. he simply say probably about Rm160k - 165k..

yes im shocked. In sibu that wan.. if not blve u can ask other ktard which come from sibu. they will know a spectacle shop named "Guo Ji' or International. just in front of a shopping mall that call Premier.

This post has been edited by Explictz: Nov 18 2012, 02:01 PM

this is how darkness the social world

u got sell those fake items or not?

profit about 70% le if buyer dont ask for discount

Nope , all of my item is authentic one
eventhou there's alot of supplier which selling imitation one come and promote to me .

I feel cheated. I paid RM1.3k for a pair of Mykita frames.
Although it is much more comfortable than other frames, I just don't feel that the high price tag justify its quality.
Should have negotiate for a lower price back then.

Do research before you decide to purchase a spec or sun glasses. Thank you for everyone who shares all the information. Really eye opening

Now I know why Hunakadoo is such a top notch optician. At least I can safely say that the frames and lenses I purchased from him is 100% GENUINE stuffs.

inb4 for money laundering