I was about to say that it comes with two lenses... but airbrake did that in the 220-260 price range depending of the iridium / non-iridium bundle.
And it had spherical lens rather than flat-ish one, if I'm not mistaken.
Damn inflation ! - BiGCoB

Unfortunately inflation and the "economic climate" is a big part of it. Not the only part but a large portion.

So what I've been told by an Oakley employee, is that Luxottica wants to turn Oakley into a high end product to commpete against D&G, Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Versace to name a few. They're idea is to hike up the prices on all of their glasses, etc, and the people who buy the high end will notice and think that if they are higher priced, then they must be high end glasses.

Persoonally, I think it's a stupid idea that just because you take a $150. pair of sunglasses and price them at $450, then more people will buy them.

I feel like there's a happy medium between this and Jim's vision of Oakley never ending up on the discount sales rack. As much as I enjoy seeing what comes out, it's really priced me out of the market. I'm still wearing a pair of Exchange Sun wires that I got BOGO 50% a few years ago. There was a time I was getting 20-30 a year. Granted, I'm not in a financial situation to do that anymore, but income and expenses have been traveling in opposite directions for a while.

So what I've been told by an Oakley employee, is that Luxottica wants to turn Oakley into a high end product to commpete against D&G, Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Versace to name a few. They're idea is to hike up the prices on all of their glasses, etc, and the people who buy the high end will notice and think that if they are higher priced, then they must be high end glasses.

Persoonally, I think it's a stupid idea that just because you take a $150. pair of sunglasses and price them at $450, then more people will buy them. - MKAZ

I agree about charging more for the same level of quality/features. I don't like hearing this but if they're going to do it then they should make the price more worth it. The high end apparel pricing is pushing it. But at least from what I can tell without seeing it in person - Oakley has elevated the functionality and features. More than most people probably don't need but it seems more justifiable than them just raising pricing on what they would normally release. They made an effort to make especially the Latitude collection and even the Reserve collection be more high end rather than just outrageously raising prices on regular AFA.

Oakley has become less a products company and increasingly more of a marketing company. One of their more visible executives is mostly a marketing specialist with some product management capability. Marketing creates value through manufactured demand, hype building, and image creation. It’s a service that’s really part and parcel of pricing these days, which of course is incongruent with a collector’s product and material-based POV. I tell you, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Scott, and Kylian Mbappe aren’t cheap.

If you’re ok with paying for the high-level marketing service they offer, then you’ll be ok. If you’re more about the product itself and just the cost of materials, the next few years are gonna suck.

I feel like there's a happy medium between this and Jim's vision of Oakley never ending up on the discount sales rack. As much as I enjoy seeing what comes out, it's really priced me out of the market. I'm still wearing a pair of Exchange Sun wires that I got BOGO 50% a few years ago. There was a time I was getting 20-30 a year. Granted, I'm not in a financial situation to do that anymore, but income and expenses have been traveling in opposite directions for a while. - Dann

I am kind of glad to read this, I felt like it was just myself not being able to keep up...Oakley losing me as a customer was their fault, not mine.

Oakley has become less a products company and increasingly more of a marketing company. One of their more visible executives is mostly a marketing specialist with some product management capability. Marketing creates value through manufactured demand, hype building, and image creation. It’s a service that’s really part and parcel of pricing these days, which of course is incongruent with a collector’s product and material-based POV. I tell you, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Scott, and Kylian Mbappe aren’t cheap.

If you’re ok with paying for the high-level marketing service they offer, then you’ll be ok. If you’re more about the product itself and just the cost of materials, the next few years are gonna suck.
- Oak

Great insight Oak!

I feel like there's a happy medium between this and Jim's vision of Oakley never ending up on the discount sales rack. As much as I enjoy seeing what comes out, it's really priced me out of the market. I'm still wearing a pair of Exchange Sun wires that I got BOGO 50% a few years ago. There was a time I was getting 20-30 a year. Granted, I'm not in a financial situation to do that anymore, but income and expenses have been traveling in opposite directions for a while. - Dann

I am kind of glad to read this, I felt like it was just myself not being able to keep up...Oakley losing me as a customer was their fault, not mine. - Benjamin

I think a lot of us are fading Cahoona

I've been fading for a while. Every once in a while I'll try a pair on and go "oh... I like these." Then I check the tag and put them down.

I've been fading for a while. Every once in a while I'll try a pair on and go "oh... I like these." Then I check the tag and put them down. - B3

Same!

I am in the same boat as you guys. I’ve been struggling for about a year now. Bought a beat up 4.0 double-wide last year and have been slowly working on it. I keep stopping because I wonder if it’s really worth my time and money. I’m the opposite of a hoarder. As soon as I’m not active in something I tend to want to get rid of it right away. So I feel for all of you guys. It’s been a rough road and I’m not sure what to do myself.