How to give someone a temporary (for a few hours/days) possibility to ring your your Android phone? and possibility talk with him?

[Krisse]

Hi, How to give someone a temporary (for a few hours/days) possibility to ring your your Android phone ? and possibility talk with him?
In the next 10 month, I am giving lots of articles for nothing (completely free) as I am in a long process of emptying my apartment. So I am taking a picture of the article and creating an ad on an online platform (an equivalent of craigslist, but in Europe) of it with a 0eur price tag, and then people send msg on this platform when interested. They then need to go to the building where I live.
Obviously for so many people, for my security, I do not want to give my name so they can ring and I do not want to give my phone number. What Android app could allow me to get a ring for a temporary duration ? what should I then communicate per message to the person I have validated to pickup an article at my home ? I can install any app necessary on my Android phone, but people coming will not install anything so it must be universal.

 

[Dannydet]

Just install a 2nd number app from the play store onto your phone.
Temporarily use it for your situation, then uninstall the app and move on.

 

[olbriar]

Allowing random buyers into your apartment seems a bit of a risk as well.

 

[Hadron]

Burner phone.

But as said above, giving strangers unrestricted access to your apartment requires a fair bit of trust in itself.

 

[AugieTN]

I've used Craigslist in the states to sell things, but I always setup a meeting away from my house. Small items I will meetup in a busy McDonald's. Larger items, City Hall which is next to the Police station.

 

[olbriar]

I have both bought and sold a few items using Craigslist and have always met at a public spot for that transaction. It just seems like good business. If the Op is moving ( "process of emptying my apartment" ) perhaps apartment access might not be a big factor.

 

[Krisse]

Giving a meeting point outside your own home, is really taking a lot more time and hassle. It is acceptable to do this for a few things, but for a lot of things it is not acceptable. Do not forget that people are rarely on time (and who is always on time), so outside you home it is just IMPOSSIBLE. When you are at home if the person does not show up or is late, it is not an issue for you.
Also all I give the items is for very little and lots for free, so people will not complain normally.
I am not giving access to any one to my apartment, I always go at the bottom of my building to give the item.

The problem is I need a RELIABLE system to warn me when the person has arrived. And I cannot find one.

> Just install a 2nd number app from the play store onto your phone.
I have tested, it is not reliable enough. I have tested OnOff APP and this is good to make a call, but it is crappy to receive call, because very often your phone does not receive the call for many diverse reasons. I need a reliable system.

 

[ocnbrze]

Why not just sell your stuff on ebay and mail it off?

 

[Krisse]

Why not just sell your stuff on ebay and mail it off?

Do you want to make 2000 times the path home to the post office over a period of 10 months to send items for zero money earned ?
+time to make the packaging, +time to wait in the queue of the post office +time in the road & traffic jam on the way to it.

I just need a Android app reliable way to contact me for a certain duration that anyone can use. Then I go down my building and give the item.

 

[olbriar]

The most reliable way to be contacted over a 10 month period would be to buy the cheapest phone on the cheapest network. The burner phone can be the last thing you sell.

 

[mikedt]

Or if you have a Dual-SIM phone, just buy a pay as you go SIM. Then your customers can call or text you to say they've arrived or whatever, and your own real number stays private.

 

[nickdalzell]

Does a dual-SIM phone even exist that has VoLTE support? All the ones I come across are 2G on one slot, and 3G on the other. In the U.S., neither work anymore.

 

[Hadron]

Yes, they do exist: I own one.

I don't know about the US market, but most Samsungs are dual SIM these days (lower-end ones tend to be 2 physical SIMs, higher-end SIM+eSIM), likewise for Sony, Motos at least have dual-SIM variants, some Nokia models are dual-SIM, many Xiaomi seem to be too, and I've never bothered checking others. And this is just looking at recent models, all of which will have VoLTE.

A second phone or second SIM seems much the simplest solution to me.

 

[mikedt]

I think dual-SIM phones are becoming quite common almost everywhere now, except in America. Even iPhones can be dual-SIM.