While TikTok only disappeared from the US for a few hours, the social media platform hasn’t reappeared in the App Store or Google Play. Some eBay sellers are taking advantage of the continued outage and are selling iPhones and Android phones with TikTok pre-installed for thousands more than a typical used smartphone.
TikTok was briefly unavailable to US users as the platform passed the deadline set by legislation requiring the platform to sell outside of China or face a ban in the States. An extension by President Donald Trump gave the app another 90 days to sell, and the app once again became available in the US… at least, to those who hadn’t already uninstalled the app during the brief shutdown.
As spotted by USA Today, some eBay sellers are listing iPhones with TikTok installed for thousands of dollars. Some are listing for only a few hundred, while other listings ask for more than $10,000 (which is about £8,000 / AU$16,000) for an iPhone 16 with TikTok installed. Another listing asks for $10,000 for a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra with the app.
Of course, just because sellers are asking for thousands of dollars for the devices doesn’t mean those listings are actually selling. However, some of the current auctions seem to suggest that people are indeed willing to pay more for a used iPhone if it has the app already installed. I spotted one auction for an iPhone 16 Pro Max with TikTok with eight bids for $15,000 (about £12,170 / AU$23,940).
While for many in the US TikTok is simply another way to pass the time and fall down an internet rabbit hole, for creators and influencers the app is a key source of income. When TikTok sued, claiming a First Amendment violation, several TikTokers sued as well. A survey from 2023 suggested that only 12% of influencers on the platform make more than $50,000 (£40,500 / AU$79,500), but some pass the $100,000 (£81,000 / AU$159,000) threshold.
TikTok videos can be viewed from a web browser, but the app is necessary for creating and sharing videos.
Searching for TikTok from the App Store in the US brings up a message that the app and others like it are not currently available. Apple Support also lists apps like CapCut and Lemon8, which are also owned by ByteDance, as unavailable in the US.
While the app has been restored in the US, it’s unclear what the app’s future is; Trump’s executive order only gave the platform another 90 days to try to find a buyer outside the US. In the Supreme Court argument, TikTok said that a sale was impossible because some of the algorithm is intellectual property owned by the Chinese government.
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