People peddled tiktok phones for thousands on eBay, Facebook

AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER (AP) – People listed preloaded phones with Tiktok for tens of thousands of dollars on eBay, Facebook Marketplace and other online windows – although it is not clear if there are a lot of buyers at these prices.

Tiktok was not briefly unavailable for American users this weekend, but on Sunday, anyone who had previously downloaded it was able to use it. The application is still not available for download on Apple and Google’s application stores, so anyone who did not think of having Tiktok before Sunday is not lucky.

Consequently, some entrepreneurial minds sell phones and tablets that have Tiktok – and other applications from his parent company Bytedance, such as Lemon8 and the Capcut video editor. On Ebay, the announcements could be found up to $ 50,000 (or as little as $ 340) on Friday. Although it is not clear how many such phones have sold, those who sell for hundreds have received the most offers.

A seller, Nicholas Matthews, who lives in New York, said that he had decided to sell the phone when he saw that Tiktok was in great demand. He listed an iPhone 14 Plus with Tiktok for $ 10,000. On Friday, Matthews said that his highest offer was $ 4,550.

“I’m just waiting to sell this phone alone,” he said.

Tiktok has around 170 million users in the United States, the prohibition does not target individual users, who are technically free to use it as long as they could.

Ebay did not immediately respond to a message to comment on the announcements on Friday.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump ordered his Ministry of Justice to take a break from the ban until early April. But a multitude of questions remain – especially if Trump has the power to make such an order and if the parent based in Tiktok China would be likely to sell the popular social media platform.