Many people are listing iPhones with TikTok installed on eBay for thousands of dollars as the app remains absent on Google and Apple app stores.

TikTok’s absence from app stores in the US has sparked an unusual trend: phones with the app pre-installed are being sold on eBay for exorbitant amounts. Some listings are priced as high as $50,000, reported The Independent, with sellers capitalising on the scarcity of the popular short-video platform following its removal.

At the time of publication, a search for "TikTok phone" produces over 24,000 results, with the lowest "Buy it Now" listing selling for $400 and the highest asking for (checks notes) $4,970,400 million with CapCut, a video editing app also owned by ByteDance pre-installed in addition to TikTok.