a person who buys goods from the company that has produced them and makes a profit by selling them to a shop or a user

You can lower the price by cutting out (= avoiding the use of) the middleman and buying directly from the factory. 你可以绕过中间商直接从工厂采购来降低价格。

someone who communicates or makes arrangements between two people or groups who are unwilling or unable to meet or deal directly with each other