One thing I find ironic is that every time these threads come up, we end up with the paralell discussions of "is this a good price for x morph" and "look what a sorry state their husbandry is in, can't they be bothered to take decent care of their animals".

I'm not excusing any store's bad care practices. But I'm definitely seeing a double standard here.

Yes, pet stores should still take care of their animals and they need to be aware of what prices the market will bear; and they mostly make money on the sale of pet supplies and food, not on the actual pets.

But it doesn't help the situation to howl if the price doesn't come in below the average of what you might see on morph market, and then wonder why the care is substandard and the animals are overcrowded.

Retail is expensive. A pet store that has products on display in a store front with a location people will find and staffed all day every day costs more to run than a basement breeding operation or an online business run out of a garage or warehouse or whatever.
If you do find a store that has knowlegeable staff and takes good care of their animals and charges $25 or $50 more than the same morph from someplace online, don't complain that they are ripping you off. That price difference is the price you are paying to be able to walk into a nice store and talk to experienced keepers and walk out with a healthy animal, and know that you aren't paying for someone to mistreat the other animals in their care.