Well, a lot of this depends. When I had my 3rd party distro deal, it really wasn't all it was cracked up to be. We forwarded tour dates to the dist. well in advance, but discs never showed up in the local stores. Fans were always complaining they couldn't get our stuff. But we were nationwide in Tower. In the end, 5 years later, the dist. tried to return 300 units to me for a refund! Outrageous. The terms on the invoices were Net 180, and he was trying to pull a "Net 1,825" on me.
So it may be great, it might suck. A lot of it depends on how honest and hard-working the distributor is. I mean, in the end, are you going to get paid anything? Will they claim all your profits were eaten up by marketing and promotion? A local label in my town pulls that stunt all the time. They'll put up 10% of the cost (pressing) and then want a 50/50 deal. Then they never pay our anything, citing expenses consumed the net profit.
If it was me, I'd try to get the distr. to buy units outright with a modest reasonable return policy. That way you can't get screwed. You might cut your wholesale a $1 to get their buy-in.
Another thing is, you should at least try to negotiate the terms to include some of what you hope to get out of it. Don't just take what they offer and sign it passively. It should be a two-way conversation.
If they're just going to take "units" on consignment, I'd be wary. Then again, I don't know how hard your band is willing to work. Are you going to hit the road, sleep on peoples floors, live off pbjs, to promote sales at shows? If not, worst case scenario, the dist. is going to get your discs sold in places you'll never be, and you could write it off as a promotional tool.
