TikTok was briefly banned in the U.S. until President Donald Trump arrived and signed an executive order that will protect the app for 75 days. In the aftermath of this saga, eBay sellers are capitalizing on the opportunity to make a quick buck on the online marketplace by putting up listings of iPhones that ship with the short-video uploading application already running. The only catch is that interested buyers have to cough up a massive sum to get one of these units, with one listing currently going for $75,000, and it is not even Apple’s latest and greatest iPhone 16 Pro Max, but the older iPhone 15 Pro Max.
eBay listings for iPhones with TikTok installed are casually going for $50,000 in a blatant display of greed
In the wake of the TikTok ban, multiple social media accounts reported that iPhones featuring the TikTok app were being sold for around $50,000, with multiple sellers attempting to pocket on what could be the platform’s final days in the country. So far, the most expensive listing carries a $75,000 price and has been uploaded by the seller ‘busybee31286’, who holds 100 percent positive feedback and is trying to part ways with an iPhone 15 Pro Max sporting 256GB of internal memory.
“Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max With Tik Tok Installed TikTok Works. Shipped with USPS Ground Advantage. iPhone 15 pro max with 256 GB. The iPhone has been protected in an OtterBox case the entire time. The iPhone is in mint condition and looks brand new!”
Assuming Trump had not signed the executive order, would TikTok still work on these iPhones if buyers were gullible enough to entertain a purchase? Well, 9to5Mac points out that it is possible thanks to the way iCloud purchases work. For instance, if one person uses their Apple ID to download apps, and then another user signs in with their own Apple ID, existing apps would remain installed. However, with the ban in place, the app would likely display the same message as it did below when the federal law was passed a couple of days ago.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned.”
The only time the aforementioned trick to continue using TikTok already installed on an iPhone would not work is if the second individual restored it from their own iCloud backup, meaning that the old apps would be lost. Thankfully, several hours have passed since eBay sellers put up the iPhone listings, and from what we can tell, no one has bothered to take a gander at these offers. At most, sellers will be discouraged from charging a fortune and will take down these listings quickly.
News Source: eBay
