alt Hacker NewsThey were always expensive, but you could go there on a Saturday afternoon and get something that will work - it might not be the right part, but it could be made to work. And expensive is relative - a $0.05 resister for $0.75 is very overpriced, and yet cheap. If you want to be in a hobby having that access close makes it a lot easier.
What's the cost of shipping on a single resistor from mouser or digi-key? Can you buy <15 from Amazon? Another way to think of it is that the ability to have no minimum quantity, not having to wait for shipping and maybe, if you're lucky, someone who can help you with info if you need it is baked into the price. With that in mind, maybe it isn't as overpriced as it seems.