I work in a company owned retail location somewhere in the depths of the New England market, and we do offer one year contracts. The phones are $50 more expensive than if you sign up for a two year commitment. As for national retail and authorized agents, they have some latitude in setting their own prices, so if they wanted to I'm sure they could decide to only sell two year commitments.

That all said, the vast majority of what I sell is on two year commitments because people seem to want to pay less for a phone and sign up for longer.

Nope, we still do one year contracts, but its like was said before, the phone is $50 bucks more. They advertise the two year contracts online so the phone would be free for the customer. The only phone free on a one year is a cruddy one so.... sign up longer or pay more for the phone.

Agents basically get paid a certain rate for everything. So if their agent agreement says that they get paid more for two year (and now a days all of them do) then they push two year. Sometimes though, take best buy for example, they'll have worked out an agent agreement that pays the same for either one year or two year contracts, so they will only push one year because hey it's easier to sell right? Now agent agreements are basically contracts and expire so if say you saw something at one point and its not available anymore, it could be because they're under a new agent agreement that pays for two years.

Now adays though there is no reason not to go two years. Less cost on the phone, better pricing promotions, 15-30 day trial periods, a...
(continues)