Hmmm... Confused about merchants...

Why would merchant compete with distributors of their products? Lets take company like Stat Packs. I needed some modules for my med bag and was pleased to find them in many stores yet they were all at suggested retail prices. Looking up some specs on Stat Packs website I realized they have a store as well and they sell their equipment not only at the same prices but with free promos and cheaper shipping. Why would you undercut your merchants? I know that places like Sony will sell you stuff directly but at MSRP while stores are usually cheaper so there is no competition.

You make a good observation. This would not build goodwill with the retailers. On the other hand, the manufacturer would rather sell directly to the end user because the profit margin is very high that way. It is a balancing act. I guess as long as the manufacturer is nominally pricing no lower than MSRP, they can at least make a reasonable claim that they are not undercutting the retailers, even if it is not completely true when you consider discounts and shipping.

All I can say is that there are plenty of other manufacturers doing very similar things. I guess it is just customary in retail. But the flip side is that for many products, the retailers, or at least some of them, will discount below MSRP and that will make it almost impossible for the manufacturer to sell direct at MSRP no matter what the promotions and shipping look like. So in the case of the Stat Packs, the fact that retailers are selling them at full price makes me believe they have little trouble moving the product and probably don't mind if a few people buy direct.