If you've posted on SastaTrade, you've verified your phone number exactly once. We get asked why fairly often, so here's the honest reasoning.
Anonymous posting is what makes most classifieds sites fill up with scams and fake listings. If anyone can post without any real identity behind it, there's no cost to spamming the same fake ad fifty times or ghosting a buyer after taking a deposit.
A verified phone number means there's a real, reachable person behind every single listing. It doesn't make someone honest, but it does mean they're not anonymous — and that changes behavior. People are more careful when their real contact info is one tap away for a buyer, an admin, or a report review.
It also means we never show you a listing where you'd have no way to actually reach the seller. Every approved ad has a working WhatsApp contact behind it, because that verified number is exactly what powers the "Message on WhatsApp" button.
We kept it to once, permanently, on your account — not per listing — because the point was never to annoy you, just to confirm you're a real person one time. After that, it's one click to post as many ads as you want.
If you ever need to change your number, you'll verify the new one once too — same reasoning applies.