They grow quickly under greenhouse conditions; they are easy to reproduce in mass numbers; they transport well, and can command a good price. If more people did their homework, the retail outlets wouldn't sell so many, and the growers would have to rethink their strategy.

Jesse..Most chain stores sell the same palms and other tropicals because: when they're first shipped from warmer climates, they're in excellent condition. Customers create an image of a beautiful Palm growing before their living room window, out pops the credit card.
If/when it dies, customers automatically assume it was their fault, and buy another, and another, and another..
As long as people buy 'X' plants, the stores will continue selling them.

Stores are out to make money. Our Home Depot sells the same palms and tropicals,' which are sold as fast as they come in.

The average person sees a plant, without knowing its needs. It looks 'pretty,' ends up going home with a customer, dies then repurchased.

BTW, since you've had your MP 1.5 yrs, you're doing something right. I don't know why tips fade color though.

Continue fertilizing as you've been. There is special Palm Fertilizer on the market..the container lists dossage.

A hint. If your MP is slow-growing, fertilize 2-3 times per year, during growing season. If it's fast-growing, once a month should do. Again, during growing season. Toni

About your tips - MP's like it moist. Are they becoming too dry?

Like rhiz. said, if we keep paying, they'll keep selling. Plants are not excluded from capitalism.

Caveat Emptor. The onus is on the customer to know what they are buying and what to do with it. Many people are knowledgeable and have green houses, or just like a challenge. On the one hand, it's sad that most will die, but would you prefer to not even have a chance?

Lots of people expect these plants to die and think of them as disposable. My Mom buys them for her porch every year and does not want to bother with them in her house for the winter. It would be ridiculous (to me) to make several trips in the car for me to try saving them. They're usually full of scales, too. It's very difficult here to NOT bring a colony of ants inside with potted plants and it's just not something she's interested in. My porch plants have to survive having their pots submerged or they're not allowed in. (Submerging causes the ants to freak out. If they swarm out, I know this plant must be repotted if an overnight underwater is going to kill it.)

I was given a fuchsia for Mother's Day that is already dead. This has been an annual experience since I moved here from OH a few years ago. I've finally learned that although fuchsia will thrive in most OH summers, they literally get baked to death here in AL. It's counter-intuitive. I'm thinking it's a tropical plant and I've moved closer to a tropical climate so these should do better here, right? I just thought I was underwatering/overwatering/put it in the wrong place, etc... If I had done my research sooner, I would have known that I could have brought it inside and had much better chances. I also would have known that the pot it was in was also going to make it waterlogged - almost certain death for fuchsia. (It was in one of the common plastic hanging baskets with the hook & recessed drain hole about 3/4" above the actual bottom of the pot.) So would it be better to not have fuchsias for sale at all here? No way! They're welcome to die at my house anytime! LOL!

Same thing goes for orchids. Your chances of keeping that beautiful thing alive even for the car ride home are questionable. So should almost-certain death prevent you from enjoying it while it lasts if you want to pay for it? Luckily as a consumer, you have the choice to buy it or not.

The poinsettia, Norfolk island pine, easter lily, and many others are also in this category of "death by purchase." All I can say is that I'm thankful for those folks who keep propagating plants for us even though we keep killing them, whether on purpose, by neglect or coddling it senseless.

As hopeful said, you are doing something right any time you keep a potted plant alive that long. Keep up the good work!