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Home > Health & Consumer Advice > Audiologist reveals the "Hearing Aid Markup" and why the most expensive option is rarely the best one

Audiologist reveals the "Hearing Aid Markup" and why the most expensive option is rarely the best one

Published By Dr. Peter Harrison | Health & Consumer Advice | Last update: Feb 6 | Views: 384256 | 4 min read

I spent 30 years fitting hearing aids. And for all those years, I never questioned the prices.


£2,500 at Specsavers. £3,495 at Boots. Some private clinics charge over £4,000.


I assumed the technology was expensive. I assumed the research and development justified it. I assumed that's just what good hearing aids cost.


I was wrong.


Since retiring, I've had time to do something I never did during my career — take one apart and actually look at what's inside.


What I found changed everything I thought I knew about this industry.

What's actually inside and what it really costs

A modern digital hearing aid has four core components. 

 

1) A Knowles receiver: the industry-standard speaker used by virtually every major brand. 

2) A digital signal processor: the brain that separates speech from noise. 

3) A feedback cancellation system, that stops that awful whistling. 

4) And a microphone.


That's it. Four components.


The total manufacturing cost for a pair of fully digital hearing aids with Knowles receivers, advanced noise processing, feedback cancellation, and a rechargeable case?


Roughly £120 to £180.


So when retailers charges you £3,495, where does the other £3,300 go?


Shop rents. Staff salaries. Television adverts. Aftercare programmes designed to keep you coming back. Shareholder returns.


The markup is roughly 1,500% to 2,000%. You're paying up to twenty times what the technology is worth.


I fitted hearing aids for 30 years and never questioned it. Since retiring, I can finally say what I couldn't say while I was still in the system.


The technology has never been expensive. The business model is.
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What happens when you remove the business model

The technology has never been the problem. It's affordable. It's been affordable for years.


We've seen it happen in other industries. Glasses used to cost £300 to £500 at the optician. Then companies started selling directly online, same lenses, same frames, fraction of the price. 

 

Mattresses. Razors. The pattern is always the same: remove the shop, remove the middleman, and suddenly the price reflects what the product actually costs.

 

Even the UK government has caught on. New regulations now allow hearing aids to be sold directly to consumers without a mandatory clinic visit per 2025. 

 

They've recognised what the industry has resisted for decades, that people should be able to access this technology without paying thousands for the privilege.


So I started wondering, has anyone done this with hearing aids?


So I did some digging. I contacted seven direct-to-consumer hearing aid companies to ask about their components, their manufacturing, their quality control. I wanted to see their operations. Inspect the technology for myself.


Six of them either ignored me or sent marketing materials. Press packs and glossy brochures. Nothing I could verify.


One company replied differently. They invited me in.


The founder, David, rang me himself. He started HearWell after his own father couldn't afford private aids and refused to wait a year for the NHS. 

 

He came from consumer electronics, he understood supply chains, component costs, and exactly where the markup lived.


"Come and see for yourself," he said. "Bring whatever you want to test."


So I did.

Me with David at HearWell's warehouse. Smaller than I expected — no fancy showroom, just a small team packing orders. Says a lot about where your money goes.
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No glass showroom. No reception desk. Just a warehouse, stock on shelves, and a small team packing orders. David walked me through the entire process, where the components come from, how they're assembled, what quality checks they run.

 

I picked a pair off the shelf at random. Opened the box. Inspected the components.

 

Knowles receivers. The same ones I'd been fitting at three, four thousand pounds for decades.

I asked David what they charge.

 

£149. I believe the normal price is still £299, but they seem to be running a promotion at the moment. I'd check their site, I don't know how long it lasts.

 

I almost laughed. Not because it was funny. Because I'd spent 30 years telling patients prices that were twenty times higher for the same core technology.

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I took a pair home and tested them properly

I wasn't going to recommend anything I hadn't tested myself. Professionally.

 

I wore them in a busy restaurant on a Friday evening. Three conversations happening around me, plates clattering, music playing. I could follow every word my mate said across the table.

I wore them watching television. Volume 17. Quiet drama with mumbled dialogue. Didn't miss a line.

 

I made phone calls. This is where cheap devices always fail, feedback, echo, tinny sound. These were crystal clear.

 

I wore them to a family gathering. Six adults, four grandchildren, complete chaos. I heard my grandson whisper something to his sister from across the room.

 

Then I compared them directly to a pair of £2,800 high street aids I had access to.

 

For the vast majority of people with mild to moderate hearing loss, the difference in daily life is negligible.

 

Because the technology is the same. It's always been the same.

 

You've just been paying for everything around it.

Since then, I've been helping David improve the product

I'll be honest, they weren't perfect when I first tested them in January 2025. The fit guide needed work. Some of the sizing advice wasn't quite right for older ears.


So I offered to help. Thirty years of fitting hearing aids to every shape of ear canal imaginable, I know what works and what doesn't.


David didn't hesitate. We've since worked together on the fitting instructions, the sizing options, and the advice customers receive when they first open the box.

 

Every pair now comes with five different dome sizes, because after 30 years I can tell you, no two ears are the same. With five options, there's always one that fits properly.

 

We even helped push the product through full UKCA certification, the same medical device standard the big brands have to meet to sell in the UK.


That matters to me. Because affordable means nothing if it's not done properly. I wouldn't recommend something to my own family that I hadn't helped get right myself.

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What I'm hearing from the people I've recommended them to

Since my visit, I've recommended HearWell to dozens of former patients. People I've known for years. People who trusted me when I fitted their £2,500 aids, and who trust me now when I tell them there's something better.


The response has been overwhelming.


Brian, 72, from Leeds. Retired electrician. He'd been on the NHS waiting list for 11 months when I told him about HearWell. Within a week of wearing them, his wife called me. "He's back," she said. "He's answering the phone again. He's going to the pub again. I've got my husband back."

Janet and Malcolm, both 68, from Edinburgh. They'd been quoted £4,200 for two pairs at a private clinic. Malcolm told me he'd rather "just cope." I sent them to HearWell. Three weeks later, Janet emailed me: "We went to our granddaughter's school play yesterday. First time in years we could actually hear the children. Malcolm cried in the car afterwards."

Terry, 76, from Cardiff. He'd bought a £79 amplifier off Amazon. It whistled, it buzzed, and he was convinced all hearing aids were rubbish. I convinced him to try HearWell. His exact words: "Peter, I've been a stubborn old fool. I can hear the birds again."
That's what gets me. It's not about the technology. It's not about the price. It's about what people get back when they can finally hear properly again.


Pubs. Phone calls. Grandchildren. Quiz nights. Whispers. The small moments that make up a life.
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What I want you to take away from this

I can't go back and un-charge the thousands of patients who overpaid on my watch. That frustrates me more than I can say.


But I can tell you this: you do not need to pay £3,000 for a hearing aid. You never did.


I've since recommended HearWell to dozens of former patients and colleagues. The response is always the same, they wish they'd found them years ago.


Don't overpay. And don't wait. Alzheimer's Research UK now lists untreated hearing loss as a direct risk factor for dementia. The longer you leave it, the higher the risk climbs.


Dr. Peter Harrison — Former Audiologist, 30 years' experience

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Since this article was published, HearWell has gained tremendous attention and interest. 

The company has reached out to our editorial team to inform us that, for a limited time, they are offering our readers an exclusive 50% discount on HearWell during national hearing week. 

Plus, every order comes with a 45-day risk free trial at home, 1 year warranty and free insured shipping.

 

If you don't experience clearer hearing within 45 days, you can just return it.

Take advantage of this limited-time offer and try HearWell with 50% discount, 45-day risk-free trial at home, 1 year warranty and free insured shipping!

Check availability

Comments (3)

JanR58

12 Feb 2026 at 1:16 pm

2 weeks with Hearwell now, amazing value! Returned my £2,400 Specsavers aids for full refund. These work just as well!! Already told a few mates at the pub about them. Dr Harrisson is spot on about the markup scam. Should've found these sooner! Thx!
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Margaret_S

29 Jan, 2026 at 9:16 am

My son sent me this article yesterday after I missed another important phone call. Been on NHS waiting list for 9 months already. Just ordered HearWell with the discount. On pension so the £149 price really helps. Fingers crossed! Will update in a few weeks
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RobertJames

21 Jan, 2026 at 10:22 am
 

Can finally hear the telly without subtitles! Wife doesn't have to repeat herself anymore. Should've done this years ago instead of waiting for NHS. Worth every penny!👍
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