They are far from OTC. Costco hearing aids are awesome and usually no more than $1600. Their audiologists are great and facilities are equivalent to hearing tests that I have done at my ENT clinic. I went with the Phillips, almost 3 years ago. My dog chewed one up last week and Costco sent it back to see if it could be miraculously repaired. That said, Im getting a new hearing test and will buy a pair of the 9050s because I was so pleased with the previous model. And if the old 9030 can't be repaired, I might buy two pair of the latest model to have a backup pair, since Im 90 miles from the closest store, and I travel a lot and am rough on them. I can't live without them. Their repair and cleaning service is wonderful, and usually takes no more than 10 minutes, even if they have to swap out new speakers. They sell about 4 different brands (Sennheiser, Jabra, Philips and one other), and I can usually find a few hundred in other purchases whenever I make a Costco run.