Resale prices for iPhones 'with TikTok installed' soar up to $50,000
Jan 23, 2025
(NEXSTAR) – 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.
EBay sellers are hoping to cash in on the TikTok crackdown, listing phones with the embattled social app already installed for tens of thousands of dollars.
One seller listed an iPhone 8 Plus "with TikTok" for $1,200. Nearly a dozen people had added the phone – which was first released in 2017 – to their watchlist by Thursday afternoon.
For TikTok users willing to pay up for a newer model phone, listing prices were as high as $50,000, including one for a iPhone 16 Pro Max with a terabyte of storage.
Trump signs order to keep TikTok open for 75 days to find US buyer
Despite a long list of "watchers" apparently interested in iPhones listed for thousands of dollars, it's not clear just how many of the high-dollar TikTok-enabled devices are selling. One iPhone 15 "with TikTok" sold Thursday for just $465 after an 85-bid contest.
TikTok, which faced a ban in the U.S. if parent company ByteDance didn't agree to sell to an approved buyer, got a reprieve when President Trump took office.
In an executive order Trump signed Monday, the president instructed the Justice Department to stand down and refrain from enforcing the ban for 75 days.
In the order Trump said he hoped the waiting period would give his administration time to chart “the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown” of the popular app.