When I was a kid, my friend Aaron always had the coolest stuff: An electric guitar with an amp built into it (looked way better than it sounded), Dynastar skis with Look bindings, and (the impetus for this post) Oakley Frogskins sunglasses. Frogskins (pictured below) were one of Oakley’s earliest sunglasses models. To be honest, I think the only reason Aaron always had Oakley Frogskins was because they were affordable. The more expensive early Oakley models, even then, cost close to $100. So for $40, (about what Frogskins cost in 1989) Aaron could have a cool pair of Oakleys.
Now, ten years later and thanks to a supposedly limited edition re-issue, Oakley Frogskins are back. Their obvious Wayfarrer-like shape and neon-irridescent color schemes have made them a must-have for a generation of brainless cultural expropriators. Recently, I went to Oakley.com to maybe get a pair for myself, (I never said I wasn’t one of the cultural expropriators.) and I could not believe the outrageous price. They were 120 bucks! How could a pair of flimsy plastic sunglasses that used to cost $40 have tripled in price in 10 years?
Yes, the new Frogskins have better lenses, and I’ve read that the mold injected plastic is a different material and the hinges are stronger, but that doesn’t account for the price increase. Nor does inflation.
Using a basic inflation calculator I found online, if a pair of Frogskins cost $40 in 1989, in 2009 they should cost $69. At $120, Frogskins have outpaced inflation by 74%. I don’t know why and could only guess. And does it really matter anyway when people are gobbling them up like Asian doctors looking for freebees at a medical convention. What I take away from the Oakley Frogskins case study is that people have very little interest in using a modicum of common sense to determine what the fair and reasonable price is for a product or service. If something seems like it’s overpriced, it’s not always about finding the lowest overprice, sometimes it’s best to not buy at all. With that said, as much as I’d like a pair of Oakley Frogskins, I can’t bring myself to do it given the price and what the product actually is.
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