Phones Preloaded with TikTok Selling for Thousands on eBay and Facebook Amid Uncertainty Over App’s Future
As TikTok remains temporarily unavailable for download in the U.S., some enterprising individuals are turning to online marketplaces like eBay and Facebook to sell phones preloaded with the popular app — often for astronomical prices. While some listings feature phones priced at thousands of dollars, it's unclear how many buyers are willing to pay such hefty sums.
TikTok was briefly inaccessible to U.S. users over the weekend, though anyone who had already downloaded the app was still able to use it as of Sunday. However, the app remains unavailable for new downloads from Apple’s and Google’s app stores, leaving those who failed to install it before the weekend cut-off without access to the platform.
In response, some sellers are offering phones and tablets with TikTok — as well as apps from TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, including Lemon8 and CapCut — pre-installed. Listings on eBay, for instance, range from a few hundred dollars to as much as $50,000. Though it's unclear how many of these devices have actually sold, lower-priced phones appear to be attracting the most interest, with multiple bids for devices priced in the hundreds.
One seller, Nicholas Matthews of New York, listed an iPhone 14 Plus preloaded with TikTok for $10,000 after recognizing the app’s surging demand. By Friday, Matthews had received a highest bid of $4,550 for the phone.
“I’m just expecting to sell this one phone,” Matthews said, noting the unexpected opportunity sparked by the app’s unavailability.
As of now, TikTok continues to have around 170 million users in the U.S., but the ongoing ban — which doesn’t impact individual users — has created uncertainty for those looking to access or download the app. eBay has not yet responded to requests for comment about these listings.
Earlier this week, former President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department to pause enforcement of the TikTok ban until April. However, questions remain about whether Trump had the authority to issue such an order and whether TikTok’s China-based parent company would be willing to sell the platform amid ongoing scrutiny over its ties to China.