How to get out of your mobile phone contract without paying termination fees

I found out about Cellswapper.com today, which is a service that matches people that need to get out of their cell phone contracts with people that want to get into a shorter-term contract than is normally offered by the carriers. In addition, most people getting out of their contracts also throw in their phone for free.

CellSwapper does this by exploiting a little-known fact about mobile phone carrier contracts: that most carriers will waive early termination fees (which generally range from $150 to $200) if the subscriber can find someone willing to take over the contract for the remaining period of time (that way they're guaranteed that someone will pay off the contract). The company plays "match maker", matching people that want to get out of a contract with people that want to get into a contract--and charging modest fees for the service -- either a "success fee" of $14.95 after the person successfully finds a contract buyer (charged afterward), or a $9.95 "posting fee" if the contract holder pays up-front.

I checked out the Cellswapper service, and they had contracts listed from virtually every carrier, including both individual as well as shared minute plans. Some people even offered a cash bonus (like $50) if someone takes over their plans, plus free shipping for the phone. The contract lengths varied from 4 to 20 months (I'm not sure why anyone would take over a 20 month plan, especially since the person didn't offer any other incentives other than a free phone).

I think this is a great idea--I've been stuck into mobile phone contracts before, and neither the prospect of having to pay $50+/month until the contract is up or paying a ridiculous early termination fee were very attractive. It's great to know that there is another alternative. I'm interested if any of my readers have used CellSwapper--please post your experience with the service as a comment.