Austin, I suspect you have little experience in both venues. Traditional publishing is broken. Bookstores are the worst places to sell books. Bookstores are a dying breed (use up your Barnes and Noble gift cards now). The publishers make more money on the authors' intellectual property than authors do. Publishers generally don't really edit (well) or help you with writing. And publishers want to tap into your social media to sell books to your followers and friends. Authors don't need traditional publishing. Indie publishing is not as expensive as you think (under $5,000). And with author/publisher models you have complete control over your end product. Need I go on?

Read my book Cover to Cover: What First-Time Authors Need to Know about Editing because I spend a chapter trashing the traditional publishing model in much more graphic and gory detail.

And you are forgetting the big reason people write and want to publish their books. It has absolutely nothing to do with money.