JAMES BATTLES RIP-OFF SPECTACLE PRICES
A STUDENT selling cheap specs on the internet says he is getting hate mail and threats for undercutting "rip-off" opticians.
Thousands of customers have flocked to James Murray Wells's website - www.glassesdirect.co.uk - since he set up a business selling glasses for as little as £15.
Experts say his idea could have "enormous" impact on the industry and even eye examinations.
But James, 21, says it has brought a flood of threatening calls from rivals fearing he will put them out of business.
He has fought off a legal challenge from a high street opticians which wanted to cut off his suppliers.
But he is determined to carry on, saying: "I'm not worried about the threats."
James, a student at the University of the West of England in Bristol, added: "I never thought I'd upset people so much. There's a lot of paranoia out there from some opticians who are very worried that I've exposed just how little it costs to make spectacles."
James got the idea after being "staggered" by the £150 price of reading glasses he needed.
"I was managing on a student loan and £150 was a fortune and more than half a month's rent," he said. "I couldn't understand why they were so expensive."
He spent months investigating the £2.4billion industry. His enquiries met a blanket silence from laboratories making lenses until a sympathetic worker told him it costs between £3 and £7 to make a pair of glasses.
James said: "Most of the work is done by machine, taking less than 20 minutes. I was determined to set up my own business."
Borrowing £5,000 from his father, he began selling prescription spectacles from a room at his parents' home in Tetbury, Glos.
His firm Glasses Direct has moved to offices in Malmesbury, Wilts, and employs 12 people, sending out glasses costing £15 to £55.
James said: "I buy frames from London and send them to three laboratories which put the glasses together. All the big players and opticians use these labs."
"The extortionate cost of glasses is a great example of rip-off Britain. There's no need to pay 10 to 20 times the cost price."
"How can these firms justify charging senior citizens the whole of a week's pension and more? It's highway robbery."
Optician Magazine said: "If the demand is maintained and similar ventures spring up, it may have implications for spectacles and ultimately on the price of an eye examination."
"The ramifications for the profession could be enormous."