why anyone would bother with pharm aff with the heavy competition in this area?
yeah money of course but do the programs really pay that much and/or is this mainly used for email marketing? I feel I am missing something here

I don't do it (yet), but one of my good friends does. It pays well enough for him. No he doesn't use mail marketing. Strictly web sales.
Whenever you see heavy competition it usually means there are a lot of bucks floating around, looking for a place to land. The trick is to get your share without setting off the alarm bells.
If there is a large enough demand, then there is a large potential pay out.
Dink