With the threat of a potential ban and TikTok missing from U.S. app stores, some smartphones with the app preloaded are being listed for as much as $50,000 on various online platforms. This, despite the app’s uncertain future under federal law. People are selling phones preloaded with TikTok for thousands of dollars on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and other online platforms — though it’s unclear how many buyers are actually willing to pay those steep prices.
TikTok was temporarily unavailable to U.S. users over the weekend, but by Sunday, anyone who had already downloaded the app was able to continue using it. However, it’s still not available for download on Apple or Google’s app stores, so anyone who didn’t download it before Sunday is out of luck.
TikTok got a temporary reprieve when Donald Trump became U.S. President and signed an executive order extending the TikTok ban by another 75 days. During this time, TikTok was required to finalize a deal that involved ByteDance making a “qualified divestiture.”
Resale Boom On eBay
Prices for over 20,000 smartphones listed for sale range from $510 to a jaw-dropping $25,000. Unverified reports claim that one phone was sold on eBay for as much as $50,000, while another seller listed an iPhone 14 Plus for $10,000. However, there’s no confirmation that these phones actually sold for such high prices. Many of these expensive auctions end up being relisted, suggesting the listed prices may not reflect actual sales.
A search for “TikTok phone” currently pulls up more than 24,000 listings, with the lowest “Buy it Now” offer priced at $400, and the highest asking a staggering $4,970,400—this listing includes CapCut, a video editing app owned by ByteDance, pre-installed alongside TikTok.
Other Listings
According to various reports, some enterprising sellers are listing phones and tablets with TikTok—and other apps from its parent company ByteDance, like Lemon8 and the video editor CapCut. On eBay, prices range from $340 to as much as $50,000. While it’s unclear how many of these phones have actually sold, the ones priced in the hundreds seem to be attracting the most bids.
TikTok has around 170 million users in the U.S. The ban doesn’t affect individual users, who can still use the app as long as they’re able to.
