Canine,
(that's a lot of questions so hopefully you're ready to read a novel LOL)
Here's a little input for you, although I'm no expert. I've marketed a few albums, most notably 1500 units on my last album back in '99 and early '00. I'm in the process of putting together a album for release in April of '03, will be pressing 10K. I also used to be part of a street team for a relatively successful local record company, where I learned the ropes.
BTW, when cats say "out of the trunk" that usually means independently, without a distributor or label backing. Example, No Limit ran a record store before they blew up, they weren't selling albums from the trunk of their car, but right in their record store where they of course had prime placement.
As far as getting your stuff in stores, as you probably know Mom and Pop record stores usually have no problem setting up a consignment deal or giving you a small area to display your stuff, they normally don't require UPCs. MediaPlay, Sam Goody and other bigger chain type stores usually will have local racks where you can sell your stuff, but the placement is horrible, you need UPCs and they will probably only take 10 or so units off your hands at a time.
As far as UPCs, that's your choice. If you want SoundScan and record labels to be able to track your sales then you will need one. If you're going to be selling in chain stores you will need one. These are relatively cheap, not sure of exact dollar amount but duplication houses usually offer that as part of the duplication service. BTW, record labels will usually not take your word for how many albums you sold, so if you're looking for a deal based on album sales, get a UPC.
Problem with all the info above is, why would anyone walk in a store and buy an album from Canine, a person they've never heard of? Truth be told, they won't. This is where marketing comes in. Who are you marketing to? That's the first step, defining your market. You need to ask yourself, who do I expect to buy this album? Once you've gotten that figured out you need to figure out how to get there attention. Local college radio station airplay, live performances and websites like this one are all excellent avenues. Shows are probably the best ways to sell CDs, providing you put on a good live show. On our last album my group averaged 150 albums per show, not bad considering we usually played to no more than 300 people.
How many units you plan on pressing up? Are you looking for a deal or just to make some cash doing this? If it's a deal I suggest you read up on different types of deals and make sure that is what you want to do. If it's just for the cash, cut as many corners as you can, this will save you money for promotional items like Tshirst, hats, shit like that, which is always beneficial for name recognition. Really it all depends on what you want to do and what means you have. Usually a combination of some or all of the above methods will be the most effective. Don't let anyone fool you, it will not be easy, especially when so many people are getting music for free from Kazaa, Audio Galaxy and other Napster clones. If they're not paying for Eminem's album, why they going to pay for yours? Just something to think about.
Make sure your gameplan is in order before you spend a dime on mastering and/or duplication. Hope this helps.
Stray
