how much does a retail distributor gets paid?

Answer 1

Your question can be answered in two different ways:

1) If it is a theoretical question, this is interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market

2) If you are thinking on a particular business/product, then you have to ask yourself many questions, a starting place would be to apply the Michael Porter's 5 Force Analysis around your product http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_5_forces_analysis

Consider well your risks and opportunities, and good luck !