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Despite an increase in features in many mobile phones over the last year, sale prices decreased in the third quarter of 2009, according to the NPD Group, a market research company.

NPD says the average phone sale price dropped to $85, down from $88 in the same quarter last year, a decline of 3%. The company attributes the reduction to buy-one-get-one free and other offers from mobile carriers.

Because of the price reductions in smart phones, the Blackberry Curve, iPhone 3Gs, and iPhone 3G had the top sales rankings for mobile phones, NPD says. The LG had the highest sales of feature phones, which are phones without an operating system, thanks to the LG enV3 and LG enV Touch, which were in the top five sellers in the category. Mobile phone accessory sales increased 12% over the prior quarter, reaching $2.3 billion in sales.

“Carriers and retailers are increasingly looking to the holiday season for the increase in sales traditionally enjoyed by other consumer electronics categories,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD. “Growing revenue opportunities offered by accessories and service are just two ways that handsets offer revenue potential beyond someone switching carriers.”

Sixty-eight percent of customers bought mobile phones in carrier stores in the third quarter, NPD says, while 8% were purchased at mass-merchants, and 9% at electronics stores. Rubin predicts the percentage of mobile phones sold at mass-merchants will increase in the fourth quarter of this year because customers prefer to buy all their holiday gifts in one place. Pre-paid phones accounted for 17% of mobile phones sold in the third quarter, but Rubin also expects their share to increase over the holidays, following last year’s trend.