As an American visiting the UK this week, why are bagel shops are so bizarre?

I guess it’s considered a novelty here? I went to a few bagel shops in the East Midlands area. Firstly, a bagel with cream cheese is £6-9!! ($8-$12 usd).In the US, it’s $2-$3. Then, I asked if I could buy a dozen bagels to take with me and every single place said “oh no we don’t do that”. I thought they were joking. In the US , you go into a bagel shop and you can order a sandwich, or just grab a bag full of 1, 6 or 12 uncut bagels (a dozen is usually $12)

What a strange experience! I did find one place in Nottingham that had delicious, true NY style bagels but of course they wouldn’t sell me any unless it was made into a sandwich. Another place said "we cant sell you an empty bagels, but if you order a bagel with tuna for 11 pounds and ask us to "hold the tuna", we can give you an empty bagel, but its still the same 11 pounds. Which is a shame because I had some delicious lox at my friends flat I was hoping to turn into sandwiches, and the prepackaged bagels at the supermarket are basically just bagel shaped bread