Distributor questions - quick answer appreciated

[daMoose_Neo]

I'm working out an arrangement with a distributor and I'm fairly unfamiliar with the actual, inner workings of it.
What kind of arrangements have you had now/in the past? What kind of terms are common? I know 30 days on credit, around 1/3 (also seen 40%) of retail, but what else make up common terms and agreements if I might inquire?

[jdagna]

40% of retail is more standard from what I know - I can't imagine making any profit if you sell to a distributor at 33%.

Anyway, the other terms are generally:
1) minimum orders.  Above the miminum, they get a higher discount and free shipping and under, a lower discount and they pay shipping.  These are often $400+ after discount, but mine is about half that.
2) returns policy.  Generally, none. If you want distributors to be able to return products, specify how.  
3) co-op policy.  Some distributors have an optional co-op policy where they'll split ad costs for ads on your product that mention them as a distributor.  With small press products, you're not likely to have the budget, and they're not likely to be interested, so it's not much of an issue.
4) damage/underage/overage policy: If products arrive damaged, do you reship new ones or refund money?  Do you want them returned to you (at your expense)?  Likewise, if you ship too few or too many products, what happens?  Most of my terms here just define who gets to choose, and I generally do it so that it benefits the distributor and lets me pick the less expensive option.
5) shipping: Most people ship UPS ground by default, and time shipments so that all distributors receive new products on the same day.

[smokewolf]

There is the option of hooking up with a marketing firm to handle all of this for you. They will handle all of your distributor representation, invoicing, advertising, etc. Here are a few:

http://www.impressionsadv.net/

https://www.lightningsource.com/

http://www.key20direct.com/

http://www.osseum.com/

http://www.tundra-sales-org.com/

Personally I am trying to connect with Key 20, they do not have an upfront fee and although they deal with only a few distributors, they will handle publishers with only one or two products. Most distributors want to see an established product line before considering you.

[daMoose_Neo]

I'll have to check those out.
Actually, I DO have a distributor very interested in the title, just wanted to work out some terms. I'm vaugly familiar some common terms as I'm an Accounting student, but I wasn't sure what comprised gaming or indie press terms.
Definetly worth a look though ^_^

[smokewolf]

Yeah, the nice thing about these guys is that they deal with multiple distributors. All you do is send your product to them and they peddle it for you.

Key 20 Direct does business with at least 5, and Osseum deals with over 40. Its better than handling each distributor individually.

[daMoose_Neo]

So I'm seeing ^_^
Definetly worth a look though! Thanks for the link-up ^_^
Hopefully I can peddle my first run in time to get a second underway and the rest of the work finished on the set ^_^ TCG's have one major advantage on RPG books- each player needs their own cards to play, means if it catches the decks should move fairly quickly ^_^