As it is extremely hazardous to look directly at the sun even with regular sunglasses, consumers have been anxiously snapping up special eclipse sunglasses which enable one to safely view the event. The frames of eclipse glasses are made of cardboard, and the lenses are made of a special solar film that must comply with the current safety standard, ISO 12312-2. The cost of making a pair of eclipse glasses ranges between 30 and 70 cents. Based on data collected by SellerCloud from actual sales by users of its program, the average retail price per pair of eclipse glasses sold was $7.15. In the days leading up to the eclipse many buyers of eclipse sunglasses have been dismayed to learn that what they thought were safe glasses were not actually safe at all.

Source: Huffington Post August 19, 2017 00:11 UTC