The College of Optometrists

Continious supply of Cls is the way ahead for independant opticians.

IT IS IN FACT MORE EXPENSIVE FOR PATIENTS TO BUY THEIR LENSES ONLINE OR AT TESCO

Three month packs of lenses and solutions from Sauflon or Cooper Vision cost me about £13 (proclears)Thats £52 for a years supply. I charge the patient £10 per month for my "Total Care" scheme, which the nice people at Sauflon collect for me by DD from the patients account.Thats £120 per year for their lenses,a/care,solutions,discounts on specs and a few other little goodies.I know thats cheap but thats what SS the market leader charges.

(The profits for torics and other types of lenses are greater.)

On line prices for proclears and sols are around £110 for a years supply.They would then have to pay for an aftercare from an optician ?£25, plus the cost of any trial lenses if they have run out, or are not wearing them,or they dont know the exact specifications etc plus another ?25 for a return visit if necessary!!!!

With a little bit of simple marketing(posters in my window) I find it fairly easy to attract patients onto my "Total Care" continuous supply scheme and once signed up they remain extremely loyal.

One off supplies of 30 packs of dailies were never profitable for us and never will be.They are more hassle than they are worth.Let the idiots at Tesco carry the large lens banks required to supply all powers and all makes of stock dailies.

that is very cheap,considering s/savers

are getting their lenses and solutions

for a lot less than you are,why do you think you have to price match them.by the time you take vat and admin into acct you are grossing around £48.00

annual on these patients,assumming your prof fees are around £40.00 p/a

you are almost supplying the product at cost.

Far better to upgrade your patients to a better product, for the past year we have been concentrating on getting patients out of standard monthly and into either 02 optix acuvue advance/oasys.These products are all clinically better for the patient,in a few years HEMA lenses will be dead , why not be seen by your patients to be

proactive and fit them with silicon hydrogels.Offer a free trial,the difference the patient finds in comfort

and the ability to increase wearing time means that they will not object to the increased cost.

best of all, your profits will improve:

e.g 02 optix 6 months inc sols

tesco price 98.00

I charge 18.00 per month incl. a/care

6x18.00 = 108.00.

with these prices my profit per patient over 12 months is well over £100.00

I agree - what is all the fuss about CL's!!! I have just implicated our new pricing structure which matches the prices offered by Tescos, and ok so I make next to no profit on the lenses, BUT..... our CL's checks and initial fit is now £64 (A Px has to have a CL Initial fit and check up fee for first visit) and CL Checks every 6 months. And guess what - all VAT exempt on that!! Hey ho what a good idea! In the last year on eye examinations alone (not including CL checks) for a similar volume I have quadrupled my turnover - not by increasing quantity of patients but by charging proper fees for our time. None of my patients have complained. This IS the way we need to go - face it! When the whole NHS issue comes into it where you might NOT get a contract you will be private! Think about it... quadrupling your takings on eye exam fees is not to be sniffed at and no I am not in the centre of London!!

great, commercialism at last, may be this tesco's scenario has awoken our hidden profiteering skills.

so there are two ways of skinning a cat. i implemented this 1 year ago and have a large database on our d/d plan and yes the patients are very loyal and once on it they don't look at other contact lens sellers as long as they are managed well and deliveries are met on time along with the required aftercares and ofcourse competitive prices.

where are you how much do you charge for an eye exam?

I charge £18.50 for an eye examination.

£25 for a cl trial/fit-but this is deducted off their first 3 months supply of CLs if they go onto my "Total Care" scheme.Thus its a "free" fitting system but eliminates the "free trial hoppers" I really am concerned about signing patients onto my "Total Care" scheme and building up a large base of CL patients.

finkle

i charge £20 for an eye examination and £50 for a c/l consultation. i then apply a discount of £25 if the px orders 3 mths dailies or 6/12 monthlies/torics. my staff were very apprehensive at first but a week later after a few meetings and explanations relating to section 60 all is settled now. our cl pricing has been aggresive anyway.

your comment about being concerned about signing px's onto the scheme is a bit confusing. surely these px's are out of the equation from the px's who might look on the net or tesco's. i find them to be the most loyal and well behaved atleast for the minimum period required for the scheme (1yr).

seriously go to town and sign on as many as possible, even if you have to offer staff a commision.