India, Aug. 27 -- Manchester-based eyewear brand Specscart has published a consumer report calculating what it calls the "Vision Tax," which is the cumulative cost, over a lifetime, of the pricing structures used by traditional high-street opticians. The report, published on the Specscart website, argues that the way glasses are priced on the high street functions less like a one-off retail transaction and more like a recurring charge that UK consumers pay every time their prescription changes.

The Numbers Behind the Report

Working from an average adult wearing prescription glasses for 50 years and replacing them every two years, which is a conservative estimate, given how often prescriptions shift, Specscart's report puts the lifetime ...