The company that basically owns the entire eyewear industry top-to-bottom is Italian. Just merged with a French company.
I know it's popular on HN to talk about how crappy the US is, but in this case you jumped to the wrong conclusion.
That is in the US (and maybe Europe). In India I got my glasses with all the regular filters from Titan for about 50$ including the frame.
Titan is a brand owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata. Not by Luxottica. So your example is still US-centric.
In the Netherlands, an eye measurement, a decent pair of glasses and a pair of sunglasses (both non reflective) will cost you ~ €250,- and that seems reasonable to me.
What's stopping you from selling mom and pop? Mostly nothing. Warby Parker – and to a lesser degree, coastal – are doing this. But it's a weird middle-market place to live. Similar to things like Daniel Wellington in the watch game – you're selling $5 chinese products for $100 because you have a marketing and brand engine that fashionable but unlearned people don't question. In reality, the same products can be had for far less. EyeBuyDirect is the best place for cheap glasses. First pairs are often free but for shipping, about $7, and later pairs are about #30.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica [2]https://www.thestreet.com/story/1509351/1/oakley-suffers-as-...