iPhones With TikTok Put in Are Being Pro...

TikTok exists in a kind of limbo in the meanwhile, not technically shut down because it obtained an extension to search out an American purchaser beneath the Trump administration, however not obtainable within the iPhone or Android app shops as a result of legal responsibility considerations. So in the event you’re completely fiending for that candy, candy infinite scroll of vertical video however didn’t bear in mind to put in the app in your cellphone earlier than the gentle ban hit, you’ll must attempt your luck on eBay, the place persons are promoting telephones pre-loaded with the TikTok app for 1000’s of {dollars}.

As first spotted by Wired, there are at present about 9,000 eBay merchandise listings for varied smartphones that have already got TikTok put in. There’s a wide selection of gadgets relying on the popular make, mannequin, and provider of your cellphone. For instance, you possibly can seize a TikTok-equipped Samsung Galaxy A54 5G on Shopper Mobile for $250 or a T-Cellular-compatible Apple iPhone 11 Professional Max for $450. However for essentially the most half, if you would like one in all these TikTok machines, you’ll must be able to fork out a lot, way more than the MSRP.

Most listings have at the very least three zeros on the finish of them, placing the beginning value within the 1000’s—like this iPhone 14 at present listed at $7,500 with, on the time of publication, one particular person at present holding the merchandise of their cart. There are a number of listings at present asking within the tens of 1000’s of {dollars}, together with one which has an inventory value of $50,000 (or greatest provide, however both manner, you’ll nonetheless must pay delivery which appears a bit petty, frankly).

It’s value noting that there’s a distinction between objects being listed at these costs and folks really shopping for them. Whereas among the listings for telephones with TikTok put in have 1000’s of views within the final 24 hours, there’s much more consideration than gross sales. A lot of the gadgets which have bought, as proven by eBay’s “accomplished gross sales” filter, present that sellers typically settled for a proposal and never the record value. Nonetheless, some people have efficiently cashed in on opportunism: There’s a itemizing for an iPhone 16 Professional Max that exhibits it bought for the $12,999 record value (although the vendor has zero historical past on the platform so it’s attainable it’s a phony sale).

The same phenomenon like this has occurred earlier than. Again when Flappy Fowl was all the fad and the creator finally determined to drag the app for his personal private sanity, telephones that had the sport put in bought on eBay, too, together with one machine that produced a bidding conflict that resulted in a $99,900 successful bid. That sale ultimately got killed by eBay as a result of it requires all telephones bought on its platform to be wiped and restored to manufacturing facility settings earlier than being shipped out.

It does seem that eBay still requires factory resets for gadgets bought by means of its market, so hopefully, the sellers who’ve bought a cellphone with TikTok put in haven’t spent these earnings fairly but.