Some of Tiktok’s 170 million American users are selling phones with social media app Preceded by thousands of dollars online.
Parent company Bytedance voluntarily shut down the Tiktok app in the United States on Sunday, hours before a deadline to sell the app or be banned over concerns related to its ties from China. Tiktok was momentarily unavailable to users in the United States, before President Donald Trump on Monday halted a ban on the app operating in the United States from taking effect.
Over the weekend, even those who had already downloaded the app to their phones were unable to use it, before it became available again. While service has since been restored to existing users, the app is not yet available in US-based app stores, making it unavailable to anyone who has not previously downloaded it.
Now phones that already have Tiktok installed on them are suddenly a hot commodity. Dozens of listings for phones and tablets that already have the app have emerged on platforms including online marketplace eBay.
Among them there is an eBay list For a device that is described as a new Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max containing Tiktok for $50,000, or “best offer.” According to the eBay site, nearly 80 buyers keep their eyes on the listing.
Other similar listings abound, including devices listed for sale for just hundreds of dollars. Some of the listings advertise phones with active Tiktok accounts, while others say the app is installed, but not linked to an account. EBay did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment on the listings.
American Tiktok users are not targeted by the ban, which President Trump has paused until early April. But the law, protecting Americans from the Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, Make it illegal For Google or Apple app stores, as well as web hosting services, to distribute or serve Tiktok.
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