Much worse, the major brands have cartels to dictate prices, even ensuring all retailers sales prices are identical and that prices go back UP after sales the same day. How can this price-fixing be in America?!
I suspect this is a result of Minimum Advertised Price policies set by the manufacturers. It sounds terrible until you take the time to research it. Manufacturers want as wide a distribution network as they can, since that gets their product in front of the most people. Some retailers, for example Walmart, are of a size and scale that they can run with much tighter margins than other smaller retailers. Without MAP, Walmart can sell a widget for less than a mom-and-pop down the street. As a result, Walmart (or Amazon, or whatever other big company) would get all the sales, and the Mom & Pop store would be unable to make a profit on the widget, so they stop carrying it. The manufacturer loses that part of the distribution network as a result, and the widget gets less visibility in the marketplace, leading to lower sales. The rise of internet commerce has exacerbated this tremendously.
So manufacturers require Minimum Advertised Price on their retailers. That puts all the retailers on the same footing, in terms of being able to sell the product. As a result, more dealers are willing to carry the product, so the product appears on more store shelves, so more consumers see it, so sales are higher.
If there's competition for producing the widget, MAP isn't a problem--if the manufacturer sets it too high, consumers will opt for the competition. However, if there *isn't* competition, then there are antitrust issues that come into play.