Blame those eBay bottom feeders, suggests the mobile industry press, for Verizon Wireless’ decision to double the early termination fee paid when breaking your cell phone contract.

Effective November 15, customers will face the $350 early termination fee for select phones sold on contract.  Each month the customer remains with Verizon Wireless, the fee drops by $10.

It seems those seeking out some of the hottest new phones, including the Storm 2 and Droid, aren’t keeping them.  They are signing up as “new customers,” getting phones at a substantial discount, and then immediately canceling.  Even with the current $175 early termination fee, they make a handsome profit reselling the phone online for more than $500.

Some have reportedly done this repeatedly, costing Verizon Wireless a pretty penny on generous phone subsidies for new customers, and they’re doubling the early termination fee to discourage some of the reselling.

Verizon Wireless is not the only company facing the reseller challenge, so expect other national carriers to follow suit soon enough.

Of course, the prospect of paying more than $300 is also likely to keep a lot more customers with Verizon Wireless.  Unless the service is a complete catastrophe for the customer, most will probably wait out their contract instead of paying the steep price for the privilege of leaving.

A typical eBay sale for the Storm2, which looks suspiciously like a "sign-up and cancel" transaction for eBay resale.