Being a retailer is different than being an installer. Make sure you know what your getting yourself into before doing so. If there are no retailers in your area then that could be a great opportunity for you. You probably do wonder in a way why there are no retailers in your area either though. Has there been other retailers in your area in the past and them they go out of business? That could be an indication of different things.
Your on the hook for one year. If the customer disconnects you lose all of your install and commission monies paid to you in some cases but is based on how long the customer stays on. If a customer disconnects even after the one year is up it is counted against you and if you get too many of them total no matter how long they have had their service then they will charge you an additional $50-100 per receiver. You have to pay retailer price for all receivers plus shipping and handelling fees. Sometimes Dish Network does not pay commissions correctly as they should and sometimes you never see all your commission monies. If a customer moves or upgrades and you put in another dish for them then you are on the hook for six months. If the customer disconnects during that period of time then they will not only charge you back for the installation and commission monies they will also charge you back for the dish. If you are in a SuperDish market then they charge you back for the SuperDish in addition to your commission and install monies. That is $150 right there so you can easily go in the hole. You could lose more than you even could have made.
It depends on your market and how aggressive the cable companies are in your area. There could be a reason why there is no retailers in your area. The economy could be as such to where there is a lot of churn, too much for any retailer to survive or you could have found a real good opportunity. A lot of retailers have few chargebacks. You have to make sure you service your customers and keep them happy, that is important. It can be very rewarding if you do not get too many customers to churn and get enough business. Sometimes when one retailer comes in many others will come in your area as well if they see your advertising. Also if the cable company comes up with an agressive promotion they can take a lot of your customers back resulting in high churn rates all of a sudden. If you are in a locals market then that will help your satellite business.
Did I leave anything out?