TikTok users in the United States remain unclear about their platform status. President Biden issued a brief ban that temporarily stopped the app from functioning for several hours, but it restarted after President Trump resumed office.
The current relief period might end at any time. TikTok’s status as a service in the United States is unclear, making it impossible for users who missed the opportunity to download.
At the same time, the platform was available. Due to the extreme demand from users, a group of eBay sellers discovered a rare way to give the app to those who need it.
TikTok Phones for Sale on eBay
Wired, the platform, first uncovered these price-opportunistic sellers who capitalized on the situation. Since the popular app became inaccessible through official stores, the market has surged for smartphones that contain TikTok.
Online searches on eBay for iPhone TikTok or Android phone TikTok listings show different devices equipped with pre-installed TikTok applications.
Several sellers list phones that stay reasonably close to the market value of refurbished mobile devices.
The unsteady status of TikTok has encouraged sellers to charge excessively high prices for their products.
Paid listings for pre-installed TikTok phones reveal that users send money to acquire this app on their devices, although the actual sales numbers remain unclear.
Why Buying These Phones Is a Bad Idea
Acquiring these phones presents an unreasonable cost and significant danger to the buyer. Here’s why:
1. The extra cost of purchasing a phone equipped with TikTok does not make logical sense, given its uncertain availability for U.S. users.
2. The security risk of phones equipped with TikTok becomes worse because such devices lack a factory reset, allowing earlier user data to remain accessible.
3. These phones have doubtful reliability features and non-guaranteed TikTok functionality.
The Future of TikTok in the US
The ongoing story of TikTok remains active and will experience further developments. The app may sustain uninterrupted operations while ByteDance decides to sell TikTok to US companies, or a subsequent ban could result in the total removal of the platform.
Today, TikTok exists as a mobile application, but it maintains its status as a software program. Most users will realize that their absence is minimal. Spending large sums on second-hand phone devices only to access TikTok requires significant money and common sense.
