Bags of walnuts in the shell, I mean.

After all, cherries are far more delicate, you'd think - and yet,
when they're in season, it's easy enough to buy THOSE in good
condition for under $4 a pound, if you shop around!

OK, so you're buying the pits and stems as well, but those make up far
less than 25% of the total weight, I'm guessing. Whereas with walnuts,
the shell is 50% of the weight - and IIRC, you're lucky if you pay as
little as $4 a pound - so that's $8 a pound WITHOUT the shell!

BTW, here's a thread I started in 2012 about WHERE to buy them:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/rec.food.cooking/walnuts$20lenona/rec.food.cooking/fdypRjPYGT8/sA1HQk8vkS0J

Even so, I'm curious as to the WHY of the matter, this time.

Lenona.