Because smaller pro shops typically cannot get the products at the same prices as the bigger retail store chains. Many shops deal directly with various local distributors. In my area that is typically something like a Kinseys Archery. Prices from the distributors are higher than what a place like Cabelas pays directly from the manufacturers. The pro shop has a standard markup...30% is probably average. If your pack of Muzzy broadheads costs Cabelas $19 from Muzzy and costs the local pro shop $23 from the local distributor and they both use the standard markup percentage then you can see where the price difference comes from.

Now, there are things called "buying groups" which allow many small pro shops to band together and order large numbers of a product directly from the manufacturers. However, there is a cost to belong to the buying group and many times larger orders need to be placed by a certain deadline in order to obtain optimum pricing. If you, as a shop owner, do not know how much you are going to sell of a particular product, especially a newer one, then putting together an order for it can be a real gamble as you can take a huge loss.

The sad part is that many consumer do not care about this. The only thing they care about is getting the lowest pricest on the newest gear. That, in and of itself, is one of the major reasons that many of the smaller shops are going out of business. They just cannot compete in most cases.