Ravi Singh is working his way through college as an independent distributor of the Rapier Knife Co. The Rapier product line includes kitchen knives, hunting knives, and other special-purpose cutlery. Ravi makes sales presentations to potential customers in their homes. If a customer wants to make a purchase, Ravi buys the knives from Rapier and sells them to the customer at a markup. For example, Rapier's most popular knife is a chef's knife that Ravi buys for $25 and resells to the consumer for $50. Ravi is:.
A. engaged in direct selling but is part of an indirect channel.
B. part of a direct-to-customer channel. C. engaged in direct marketing. D. None of these answers is correct.

the correct answer is A. engaged in direct selling but is part of an indirect channel.

Explanation:

if you can see, ravi is actually dealing with his customers head on and maintain a direct and friendly relationship with them, the question states that he even makes presentations to customers at their homes. so there is no doubt that he is engaged in direct selling!

but the indirect channel he use is the way he gets the goods to sell. here he buys them from a supplier and sell them at a markup price. although this might be an indirect way, it does not mean that he is not engaged in "direct marketing". marketing aspect relates to how the seller is engaging with the market and customers.

you have to put the parentheses like this:

in fact, you have to perform the operation inside parentheses first, and then proceed in order: