The internet is an incredibly absurd place. As someone who has to deal with hard facts for work, sometimes I forget just how silly and weird the internet is. However, the latest eBay trend serves as a poignant reminder that a whole other side to the internet exists. As fears of a TikTok ban loom over the US, many opportunistic sellers on eBay are listing smartphones with TikTok preinstalled and selling them at jaw-dropping prices. If you’ve ever wanted to pay off your student loans or the mortgage for your home, this could be the golden ticket you’ve been waiting for!
Over the weekend, AndroidHeadlines’ CEO and founder (and eBay fanatic) Chris Yackulic stumbled across several unbelievable smartphone listings in the thousands of dollars. Some of these devices are pretty old and come with TikTok preinstalled on them. Some of these listings are priced over $10,000, which, you know, is honestly a fantastic deal if you’re a collector of rare artifacts that represent our modern culture.
I would have jumped on these listings in a heartbeat, but my money is all tied up in Dogecoin, which we all know will one day overtake Bitcoin in value (to the moon!).
The TikTok gold rush
Jokes aside, this worrying trend on eBay is a clear case of panic selling and opportunism. There have been many cases over the years where we have seen people sell items of regular value at inflated prices due to cultural trends. A good example would be during the coronavirus pandemic.
Unscrupulous and opportunistic individuals sold basic items like face masks, toilet paper, and hand sanitizers at 1000% of their original value. This is akin to the modern equivalent of selling snake oil. It’s a bizarre and greedy attempt to profit off the impending ban of TikTok in the United States.
Déjà vu
This type of opportunistic behavior isn’t new. We’ve seen it in the past, and we’ll see it again in the future. Some of you might recall that in 2014, Kojima Productions released a playable demo called P.T. for the Sony PlayStation 4. This playable demo served as a teaser for the next installation in the Silent Hill series. However, the demo was removed from the PlayStation Store when Konami canceled the game.
This led to opportunistic sellers selling off PS4 consoles with P.T. installed on eBay at exorbitant prices. There was also the incident with the Pip-Boy collectible that was bundled as part of the Fallout 4 Collector’s Edition. The surge in demand led to a temporary shortage, resulting in the collectible being sold on eBay at unreasonable prices.
However, there is one critical difference. In the case of P.T., the game became inaccessible unless you had downloaded it before its removal. Conversely, TikTok can still be sideloaded or accessed through other means, even if it’s banned. This made the scarcity of P.T. a genuine collector’s item. At the same time, TikTok phones don’t offer anything of real value that you could probably achieve on your own with a bit of research.
The sideloading solution
If you’re unwilling to pay thousands of dollars for TikTok smartphones, and you most definitely shouldn’t, to skirt around the potential ban, the next best thing is to sideload the app onto your phone.
While TikTok has been given a 75-day reprieve, the app is still missing from various app stores. This means that the only way to get it on your phone if you haven’t already is to sideload. There are many places to download the TikTok APK, but you should proceed with caution.
Sideloading is an excellent way of installing apps on your phone. This is useful if there are apps that aren’t officially available in your region or in the app store. However, there are risks involved. These risks include the potential to download an APK laced with malware. This malware can mess up your device by installing backdoors to allow hackers access to your personal data. It can also install keyloggers, which can record your login information. This can lead to attackers logging into your bank accounts and draining your money.
Sideloaded apps also don’t enjoy the same regular updates as apps downloaded from the Play Store. This means that you could be running a version of the app with some security flaws or bugs.
The TikTok ban summed up
When social media emerged, it offered a fun way for people to stay connected with friends, family, classmates, and colleagues. Over time, it has transformed into a powerful tool for spreading messages and influencing purchasing decisions. This evolution is both fascinating and disturbing, especially as TikTok has become a pawn in the US government’s conflict with China.
US officials worry that TikTok will gather data on American citizens and send it back to China, given that a Chinese company, ByteDance, owns the app. This is one of the reasons the government wants to ban TikTok on smartphones. To address these concerns, the US government enacted a law requiring TikTok to sell itself or its majority stake to an American-owned company. If it fails to do so, the government will ban the app.
The ban deadline was originally set for the 19th of January 2025. However, before that ban could take effect, the company chose to take its services offline. After his inauguration, President Trump intervened and granted the app a 75-day extension.
Trump continues to push for a sale to a US company, but that could prove complicated since China opposes the sale.
Message to buyers
Suffice it to say, TikTok ban or not, these smartphones listed on eBay are not worth purchasing. Some of these phones are still useful, especially newer models like the Samsung Galaxy S23 or Galaxy S24. However, while they are still powerful and useful devices even in 2025, they are nowhere near worth the thousands of dollars these eBay sellers are asking for.
This is a blatant exploitation of FOMO and scarcity. Even if you have the money, there’s no guarantee that TikTok will continue to work. Sometimes, apps can stop working once they get too old. Also, should TikTok fail to reach an agreement with the US government, more drastic measures could be taken. This includes the US government blocking server access.
Also, who’s to say TikTok will remain dominant forever? Some of us thought that Yahoo would remain the king of search engines. Nokia also seemed like it was too big to fail. Many thought MySpace would be the next big thing. Look at where these companies are right now?
Ultimately, if you want TikTok on your phone, the best option is to sideload it. But keep in mind the risks mentioned above.