Users who still wish to use TikTok or other ByteDance apps, as they’ve been removed from Apple and Google app stores, have resorted to purchasing entire new phones on eBay instead.
Come January 18, 2025, I found myself unable to access TikTok and several other ByteDance apps on both my Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It seemed like the tech giants had given them the boot.
As the impending TikTok ban enforcement in the U.S. approached, I found myself bracing for potential consequences. This could’ve meant hefty fines amounting to $5,000 per user who continued to download or update the app post-January 19th.
Even though President Trump issued an Executive Order suspending the enforcement of the ban and penalties, people who have already uninstalled TikTok cannot re-install it again.
Consequently, numerous individuals are seeking means to reach the popular short-video service, and some are even opting to purchase a brand-new phone on eBay during this process.
iPhones with TikTok installed are selling in droves
Since the removal of the app on January 18, numerous (hundreds, possibly thousands) iPhones pre-installed with TikTok have been distributed to users nationwide.
Examining final sales on eBay, many items are just moderately more expensive than the present value of the phones. However, some sellers have successfully listed their devices at significantly higher-than-expected prices.
As an enthusiast, I recently came across a resale listing for an iPhone 14 Pro Max boasting 256GB of storage, which surprisingly fetched $2,500 – a whopping $1,300 above Apple’s Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) when it debuted in 2022. On the other hand, a listing for the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max with the same storage capacity is currently advertised at an eye-popping $4,000. While the actual selling price of this yet-to-be-released model remains unknown after a buyer’s offer was accepted, it’s hard to deny the escalating trends in smartphone resale prices.
A standard 2023 iPhone 15 Pro, pre-installed with TikTok and CapCut, was sold for an astonishing $13,997 – a price that is approximately $13,000 more than Apple’s original retail price of $999 when the device was first released. This is quite an extraordinary cost for an iPhone.
On occasion, such listings might be deceitful tactics employed by sellers to mislead potential buyers about the item’s worth by failing to fulfill the sale after the auction ends, making it challenging to determine whether any money was truly exchanged.
On various occasions, iPhone users have managed to fetch substantial sums for their devices due to popular apps. For example, back in 2014, iPhones listed on eBay were sought-after when they came preloaded with Flappy Bird – a game that was removed from the iOS App Store by its developer.
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2025-01-23 02:06