Wait a minute! If you want to give the phone to someone else anyway, you might not have to pay the early termination fee; if they can pass a credit check Sprint will let you transfer the obligation of the contract to anyone who wants it. The charge for this is somewhere around $35, much better than the cost of an early termination. Otherwise, danotoriousnic is correct, the phone will be unusable by anyone unless the bill is paid and the account is closed satisfactorily.