General Buying Group Questions
C&E members enjoy one monthly bill and online account access to enable them to concentrate more on their practice. We offer convenience and exceptional pricing on all major brands of optical equipment and goods.
- Who is C&E Vision?
- C&E Vision Services, Inc. is an optical buying group. In 1982 Dr. Harvey Yamamoto, OD recognized the advent of the industry trend toward retail chains and discount optical shops. He wanted to find a way for independent practitioners such as himself to obtain competitive pricing on optical goods. His idea was to put together a group of independent practitioners who would agree to make purchases as a group in order to obtain special pricing and favorable payment terms. Today, the C&E Vision Buying Group is the only web enhanced optical buying group that allows the independent practitioner the ability to make purchases from over 200 vendors of optical goods, grow their practice with a variety of Web Enhanced web based services and allows their members to choose which billing method fits their practice.
- What is an optical buying group?
- An optical buying group is a 3rd party billing service that helps you manage your accounts payable. You, the Eye care Professional, order your frames, lenses, and supplies through the vendor of your choice and charge it to your C&E Vision account (much like using your Visa or MasterCard at the grocery store). Each month your participating vendors submit your purchases to us, so that we can consolidate your purchases on one easy to read statement. Collectively, our members do a large volume of business, which allows the C&E Vision Buying Group to negotiate with manufacturers and distributors for lower pricing on products that you use in your practice every day.
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- What makes C&E Vision the buying group of choice?
- The C&E Vision Buying Group works hard to make sure that our 3 distinct billing methods will save the independent eye care professional (like you) more money than any other group. With large volume discounts, prompt pay discounts (from participating vendors), and our RewardsPlus incentive programs we are able to save our members a large amount of money. In most cases our members are able to save approximately 6% to 15% more than billing direct.
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- How can I obtain a copy of your vendor list with discounts?
- Easy!, Simply complete the information request form with your contact information. Once verified, we will email, fax or ship an information packet to you.
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- Why are your discounts larger than my current group?
- Most buying groups receive the same discounts; however, how the buying group chooses to pass the discount on to the member will make the difference. Since C&E Vision is the only optical buying group that offers 3 distinct billing methods, you can choose which discount list and billing method works for you. Depending on the billing method that is chosen, C&E members can enjoy as much as a 5% increase in discount compared to their current groups.
- What is the difference between the 3 billing methods C&E has to offer?
- C&E understands that each practice is different and that what works for one practice might not always work for yours. That is why C&E Vision came up with 3 billings methods, each with their own advantages.
- The Classic method was the original billing method, which is still used by a variety of buying groups. This method offers members great discounts with no administration fee.
- The RewardsPlus method offers members full volume discounts, prompt pay discounts (from participating vendors) & incentive programs such as monthly rebates, state society dues credits or extra volume discounts, all with an admin fee as low as zero!
- The Flat Rate Plus method offers members direct discounts with a low flat monthly fee as low as $50. Because the program is a flat fee, there are no more months with large administration fees just because you made a large stock order.
Becoming a member of C&E Vision
- How do I become a member of The C&E Vision Buying Group?
- Simply complete the New Account Application and member agreement by clicking here. Once your application has been received you will receive an email confirmation that you will need to reply to. It usually takes about 24 hours for the credit process to be completed; you will be notified as soon as your account is established. At that time, you will receive your C&E Vision Buying Group member number.
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- What do I do if I purchase a C&E Member's practice?
- If you purchase a C&E member's practice simply complete a New Account application and Member Agreement. Once approved the prior owners account will be closed and replaced with your new account. In most cases nothing else is needed.
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- Is there a fee to become a member of The C&E Vision Buying Group?
- No. C&E Vision does not charge a fee to join.
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- How long after I return my application will I be notified?
- The turnaround time is usually 24-48 hours. You will be notified by phone upon approval and you can start ordering immediately.
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- How do I start using my C&E Vision Buying Group account?
- First, your vendors need to change your billing status so your purchases are billed through the C&E Vision Buying Group. You can either do this yourself by calling the vendors directly, or by completing the Vendor Conversion Form. Your Member Services Rep can help you complete this form. Just call (800) 346-2626 for assistance with this process.
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- Can I bill a vendor through C&E Vision that is not on your vendor list?
- Yes, C&E Vision is always interested in signing up new vendors. Simply have your vendor sales rep notify their corporate office to contact C&E Vision's Member Services Department.
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- What is an administration fee?
- An administration fee is charged by buying group who offer larger discounts. The administration fee is what the buying group charges in order to continue business. Some buying groups do not charge an administration fee, this is because they have reduced your discounts in order to make money. If you have questions concerning how C&E compares to your current group or other groups you have been looking at, simply call our Member Services Department at (800) 346-2626.
- Can the administration fee be reduced?
- Yes, although the administration fee is how a buying group makes its money, because of C&E's size we are able to reduce a member's administration fee various ways. Whether it is through incentives, such as monthly volume rebates, state society dues credits or extra vendor discounts, or by using RewardsPlus vendors members can effectively reduce or eliminate their administration fee. For more information on C&E's incentive programs or how you can reduce your administration fee, simply call our Member Services Department at (800) 346-2626.
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- Why does The C&E Vision Buying Group require a personal guarantee?
- Due to the large credit lines extended by C&E Vision, we want to protect our members from increasing rates. The personal guarantee is a way that C&E Vision can insure that bad debts, writes and other financial burdens are kept to a minimal which in turn allows C&E Vision to effectively collect outstanding debts from members who have a chosen not to pay their balance. With very few unpaid balances C&E Vision is able to offer more incentives, rebates and sponsorships to our member base.
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- What is the difference between a Buying Group and a franchise group?
- Buying Groups were founded on the principal that a group of individuals can earn larger discounts with vendors as a group compared to an individual practice. Today buying groups are billing services that offer consolidation, discounts, and unparallel customer service and in the case of C&E, offering "WebEnhanced" services. A franchise group is a company that offer a discount that can sometime be larger than the buying groups, but their fees are usually based on the practice's gross receipts. For example if you purchase $50,000 of merchandise through a buying group account you may pay a nominal fee or receive a net discount on that order, but with a franchise group you do not pay on what is ordered, you would pay on the $500,000 in revenue. On average a practice would need approximately a 15% higher discount through the franchise group compared to the buying group.
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- Is there a monthly minimum that I have to maintain?
- The C&E Vision buying group requires a $500 average monthly sales, because the average practice purchases approximately $4200 each month in products and services C&E encourages its members to consolidate all of their monthly purchases through C&E Vision. After all, very few practices could survive on $250 in sales each month.
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MyC&E & Web EnhancedT Services
- What is web enhanced anyway?
- C&E Vision is proud to be the only "WebEnhanced" optical buying group in the nation. Providing our members with online tools to help grow their practice, increase their knowledge and build long lasting relationships with your patients. C&E offers 6 Web Enhanced services such as BeyeRight, Get Connected and many more. For more information on our "WebEnhancedT" services click here.
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- What is MyC&E?
- MyC&E is our online account management tool for C&E members to review and update their C&E account. From online statements, invoices and top selling frames, to making payments, review deferred invoices and check out the latest industry news, MyC&E has everything you need to help save time and grow your practice. To access MyC&E simply click here to log in.
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Payments and Buying Group Terms
- Do I pay C&E or my vendors directly?
- Each month you will receive a statement from C&E. You will remit your payment to C&E Vision for any products purchased with your C&E Vision Buying Group account number.
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- What are your payment terms?
- To receive full discounts, payments are due in our office by the date printed on your statement. C&E does offer our members a grace period to help in those months that cash flow may be tight. In some cases you will have up to 50 days before payment is due.
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- Does The C&E Vision Buying Group honor deferred billing programs offered by my vendors?
- If a participating vendor applies deferred terms to your order, C&E will honor those terms which will reflect on your monthly statement. However due to problems associated with long term extended deferred billings (sometime referred to as consignment), the C&E Vision Buying Group will not accept billings with terms beyond a certain point. The C&E Vision Buying Group does not recommend that their members accept long extended payment terms or consignments. We have found that when a member received payment terms of 12 months or accepts consignment billings, they tend to forget about the billings and when the time comes to pay the total in full it can cause them cash flow problems.
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- Who do I call if I have a problem with my statement?
- You may chat with any of our representatives by clicking here or you may speak with any of our knowledgeable member service representatives at 800.346.2626, Monday thru Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. pacific standard time. Click here to chat now.
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- Does C&E Vision accept credit card payments?
- The C&E Vision Buying Group does accept credit card payments, however, because buying groups are third party billing services, our margins are not high enough to support the fees assessed by the credit card companies. Therefore C&E Vision and other buying groups have to make up that amount by increasing the administration fee, lowering the discounts or in C&E's case we assess a convenience fee. This fee can vary based on monthly sales averages, but is set to as low as 1% for platinum accounts that pay online via MyC&E.
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- Why does C&E Vision charge late fees?
- To provide C&E Vision members with vendor discounts, C&E must pay the vendors on time. For those members who pay on time with C&E the discounts are applied to their statements, however, when a payment is not received by the date due we must make efforts in order to collect the payment. In this case C&E uses the discount withheld to pay for the services needed to collect the outstanding balance.
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