iPhones with TikTok Available for Thousands on eBay Following Short Ban
As of Wednesday morning, TikTok is still missing from Apple’s App Store, even though countless users who had the app already can continue using it.
Some iPhone owners chose not to remove TikTok during its temporary ban in the U.S., and now these users are offering their phones for exorbitant amounts on eBay, as the app remains unavailable on Apple’s App Store.
Individuals who still have the app on their phones can access the popular video platform that reappeared for millions of U.S. users on Sunday and Monday. While some users can log into TikTok without issues, others who have deleted the app or never had it downloaded find themselves without access, as the app is still not available in the U.S. app stores of Apple and Google.
It is uncertain when TikTok will be reinstated in the app stores, although President Donald Trump signed an executive order postponing the ban’s enactment. Regardless, some iPhone users who have retained the app are now asking for up to $25,000 for their new or used devices.
YSL News reached out to both TikTok and eBay on Wednesday but has yet to receive a reply.
Current eBay Prices for iPhones with TikTok Installed
An eBay seller from Ruskin, Florida, has listed an iPhone 15 Pro Max “With TikTok” for $10,000 or best offer. The listing indicates that the phone has garnered over 1,800 views within the last 24 hours.
Other sellers on eBay are listing iPhones with TikTok for prices that range from $500 to $25,000, based on the model and condition. The $25,000 asking price from a seller in Whittier, North Carolina, is for an iPhone 16 Pro Max with “TIKTOK INSTALLED.”
It remains unknown whether these iPhones with TikTok are actually selling since most of the over 2,000 phones listed on eBay do not have any active bids. The phones that do have bids tend to be older models, fetching between $100 and $200.
Additionally, one seller in Raleigh, North Carolina, has even posted a 128 GB iPhone 15 Pro with TikTok and Cap Cut, a video editing application owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, for more than $4.5 million.
Prospects for TikTok’s Return to App Stores
The timeline for TikTok’s return to the Google and Apple app stores is not clear, but Trump’s comments have given users some optimism as he suggested a partnership where the U.S. would own 50% of the app.
“They’ll have something of greater value because they’ll have the ultimate partner, and the United States will make it worthwhile in terms of permits and other matters,” Trump stated after discussions with TikTok’s owners.
Trump also mentioned he is receptive to Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk or Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison acquiring TikTok. If either of these billionaires were to buy the app, it might hasten its return to the app stores.
It seems a deal would need to be struck for TikTok to reappear in app stores. General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford indicated at an event in Davos, Switzerland, that this would likely happen.
General Atlantic is a significant investor in ByteDance, and Ford serves on TikTok’s parent company’s board of directors.
“We’ll get to it, possibly as soon as the end of the week regarding negotiations that could work… The Chinese government, the U.S. government, and the company must all be part of this dialogue,” Ford said, according to Axios.
