Its the ole Wholesale Retail Mafia thing all over again.
Once upon a time the manufacturers didn't direct sell so it birthed a Whole network that didn't want to hassle with clients off the street so it in turn birthed a retail network which is essentially loathe to do much so they just pass on costs and inflate the price until things stop selling and around we go.
Then came the web enabling people to sell directly at fair prices then along came people like the Chinese who did the web with aplomb. Now everyone is used to this trading they are drifting back to the bad ole ways and around we go as hobbies end up dying out.