Hot Topic: Charging for Services

A primer on how, in the face of growing online sales, to boost profits with fees for dispensary services

By Erinn Morgan

With the increase in Internet sales, you're not alone if you're wondering whether you should be charging for services such as taking measurements or making adjustments, doing repairs, or putting lenses in frames purchased elsewhere.

“We have seen customers come in who want service on their eyewear that was purchased elsewhere, usually at a chain store,” says Patti Thomas, director of retail operations for the 21-location Northeastern Eye Institute in northern Pennsylvania.

The major factor that has caused some ECPs to consider charging for services is, however, the increase of online purchasing. “With the advent of Internet eyewear sales, there's going to be a huge market for eyewear verification, fitting, and repair and maintenance,” says Rene Soltis Shepherd senior director of meetings and education with The Vision Council.

REVENUE STREAM

“Savvy providers should already be developing, marketing, and providing service packages,” Shepherd adds. “It's a potential revenue stream and a way to get a piece of the online eyewear market without getting all the way in.”

Consumers who buy online are often looking for frames at the cheapest price possible, but they still need spectacle lenses. “If people come to me and say, ‘I'm going to order these frames online and I need a PD and seg height,' I say, ‘Well guess what? I'm going to charge for that,” says John McPherson, an optician with Vestal Eye Care in Vestal, N. Y. Adds Deb Pelz, manager of Fox Optical in Rochester Hills, Mich., “The Internet is not going away, so we have to find a way to cohabitate with it and continue to make money.”

When formulating lens fees, consider the following.

● MEASUREMENTS AND ADJUSTMENTS. Online business has inspired some dispensaries to implement a service or “lab” fee for placing lenses in frames purchased elsewhere. “Our $30 'fee' gives you your properly measured PD, monocular or binocular, an adjustment after you receive your glasses, and any troubleshooting that may be required,” says Pelz. “This is new for us in the last couple of years since online frame purchasing came into view.”

● PACKAGE FEE. Adds Tom Hyde, an optician at Lossman Optical in Lake Zurich, 111., “If people are going online and buying $10 to $20 glasses, and they come to me and want them adjusted or fixed, I charge them because it's a service I provide. If we are going to keep up with shrinking margins and other lost revenue, we have to start charging for these things.” As a result, Lossman Optical offers a year-long $20 package for unlimited adjustments and small fixes like new nosepads and screws.

Do customers balk at these addon charges? “Many really don't want to spend the extra money,” says Pelz. “They are looking for the very cheapest way to get a pair of glasses. So some folks come in and consider it, but after we tell them about the fee, out they go.”

● DISCLAIMERS. One consideration is that it may be wise to protect your business with a disclaimer that waives responsibility when working on frames purchased elsewhere. “For us, it was the biggest reason for redos and remakes,” says Thomas. “The frame would break or the lenses wouldn't work—you are just asking for a problem.”

Today, Northeastern Eye has a disclaimer they ask patients to sign when making their lens order that limits liability for damages to old frames or those purchased elsewhere. “It says we will make sure we do everything we can to take care of your frame, but in the unlikely event something should happen, we cannot be responsible,” says Thomas.

Sam Morgenstern, FNAO, FOAA, optical manager at The Optical Shoppe at The Princeton Eye Group, which has three locations in central New Jersey, says he plans to address this issue by making up a placard for his dispensaries that states, “We will gladly adjust your own frames—at your own risk.”

REPAIRS AND MORE

Small fixes like replacing nose-pads and screws or making minor adjustments can add up to a lot of man hours delivered by employees. Should ECPs charge for these time-consuming services?

● MATERIAL FEES. Most ECPs say they determine charges for repairs and beyond on a case-by-case basis. Notes Thomas, “We charge a few dollars for things that make business sense, like solders, minor repairs, temples, and temple covers.”

“We do charge a minimal fee for the materials used for repairs,” says Robert Ratzlaff, OD, with Real Eyes in Taos, N.M., “like a couple of bucks to cover the cost of the screws.”

While some do charge a few dollars for each type of fix, many do not. “For our own patients, we never charge to replace screws, even if they purchased their eyewear elsewhere,” says Pelz, who charges a $20 to $25 soldering fee for pieces they send out to their local jeweler. “It's just good PR. You are chatting with them while you're doing it, and they are looking around the dispensary. Make sure they leave with your business card.”

● OPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION. Similarly, while Morgenstern charges $25 if a person off the street (not a current customer) requests a PD, he says Princeton Eye does not charge for minor adjustments or repairs. “We do say, ‘There's no charge for this, but we have a jar for charity that you can contribute to.'” Any funds donated by customers for services go to the Trenton Soup Kitchen. EB