Some eBay sellers are hoping to get $10,000 or more for a smartphone with TikTok preinstalled, but the app's future is far from certain.
With no way for users to download TikTok, thousands of eBay sellers have listed phones with the app installed — hoping to capitalize on TikTok's disappearance from U.S. app stores following a brief ban.
Business Insider's scan of platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace showed hundreds of listings touting phones with TikTok and CapCut installed.
At the time of publication, a search for "TikTok phone" produces over 24,000 results, with the lowest "Buy it Now" listing selling for $400 and the highest asking for (checks notes) $4,970,400 million with CapCut, a video editing app also owned by ByteDance pre-installed in addition to TikTok.
People are listing phones preloaded with TikTok for tens of thousands of dollars on eBay, Facebook marketplace and other online storefronts.
Many people are listing iPhones with TikTok installed on eBay for thousands of dollars as the app remains absent on Google and Apple app stores.
Phones are going for thousands of dollars on online storefronts after Apple and Google took down ByteDance platforms.
The ongoing feud between the U.S. government and TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, began in 2020, when President Donald Trump proposed the first ban on TikTok in the U.S., claiming it threatened national security.
TikTok is no longer available in the App Store as of Thursday, however there’s still a way to get back on the platform – for a price.
TikTok’s absence from app stores in the US has sparked an unusual trend: phones with the app pre-installed are being sold on eBay for exorbitant amounts. Some listings are priced as high as $50,000, reported The Independent,
Some fast-acting entrepreneurs are selling phones with TikTok preloaded on devices for thousands of dollars online, after the social media app was momentarily unavailable in the U.S.