Well, to get around charges of "price fixing", many manufacturers instead of forcing retailers to sell at a particular price, they set a "minimum advertised price" (MAP), where they are not permitted to advertise prices below a certain amount, which gives them good incentive not to sell below that price.

If you've ever shopped at an online store and seen "click here to show price", or Amazon's "Click to see price", you've been a victim of the barely-not-illegal Minimum Advertised Price.

Also, I understand that where applicable, the European VAT ratchets up the price A LOT.