Choosing a distribution partner is one of the higher-stakes decisions a growing brand makes. Get it right and you've added a growth engine. Get it wrong and you've handed your brand to someone who marks it up and hopes. Here's what actually matters when you're evaluating one.
Operator experience, not just logistics
The first question to ask: have you ever sold your own product? A partner who has run their own listings, fought for their own reviews, and absorbed their own returns understands the work in a way a pure middleman never will. Operator experience is the single best predictor of whether a partner can actually grow your brand rather than just move it.
Real depth in specific channels
Be suspicious of "we do every channel." Ask which channels they genuinely operate in and how. A partner with real depth in the two or three channels that matter to you is worth more than one claiming to cover everything thinly.
Transparent economics
A good partner can explain exactly how they make money and how you make money in the same conversation. If the structure is murky, the relationship will be too. Clarity about margins and terms up front is a sign they've thought about your success, not just their cut.
Honesty about fit
The best partners will tell you when something won't work — when your margins are too thin, when a channel isn't right, when you're too early. A partner willing to talk you out of a bad fit is one you can trust with a good one. Relentless yes-saying is a warning sign, not a green light.
A named, responsive contact
You want to deal with a person and a real business, not a logo and a ticket queue. When something goes wrong — and in distribution something always eventually does — the difference between a partner who picks up and one who disappears is the difference between a problem and a disaster.
Skin in the outcome
The structure should mean your partner wins when your product moves, not just when they invoice. Aligned incentives turn a vendor into a partner. Misaligned ones turn even a capable distributor into someone optimizing for the wrong thing.
The checklist, in one place
- Have they sold their own product?
- Which channels do they genuinely operate in?
- Can they explain the economics clearly?
- Will they tell you when something isn't a fit?
- Who, by name, is your contact?
- Do they win when you win?
Run us through your checklist.
We're operators who sell our own products, we'll tell you honestly if we're a fit, and you'll always have a named contact. Start the conversation.
Partner with us →If you're still deciding whether it's the right time at all, read the signs your brand is ready for a distributor.