# Number Masking for Marketplaces and Gig Platforms (2026) > How number masking works for marketplaces and gig platforms in India - protecting buyer and seller numbers, preventing platform leakage, and what it costs. Source: https://edesy.in/blog/number-masking-for-marketplaces-gig-platforms-2026 **Short answer:** on a marketplace, number masking puts a temporary virtual number between the two sides of a transaction. Buyer and seller can call each other for as long as the order is live, and when the session ends neither holds the other's real number. On Edesy this runs through the [Session API](https://edesy.in/number-masking/features/session-api) at **₹1.50 per minute**, with two-way calling, recording and webhooks included. The privacy benefit is the obvious part. The commercial reason marketplaces actually buy it is different, and worth being blunt about. ## Why Marketplaces Buy This **Disintermediation.** Once a buyer has a seller's mobile number, the next transaction happens over WhatsApp and your platform earns nothing. Every marketplace with a take rate has this leak. Masked numbers close it without making the platform feel hostile — the two parties can still talk freely, they just cannot talk *after* the relationship with your platform ends. **Support is unanswerable without call records.** When a buyer claims the delivery agent never called, "we have no idea" is an expensive answer. Masked calls produce [call logs](https://edesy.in/number-masking/features/call-logs) and optional [recordings](https://edesy.in/number-masking/features/call-recording) tied to the order, so the dispute resolves in a minute instead of a goodwill refund. **Harassment liability.** If a delivery partner misuses a customer's number a week after the order, that is your platform's problem in the public eye whether or not it is legally yours. A number that stops working when the order closes removes the mechanism. ## How It Works on an Order 1. An order is created and you call the Session API with both real numbers and your own order ID. 2. The platform binds them to a virtual number and returns it. 3. Either party dials that number and is bridged to the other — neither sees a real number. 4. When the order completes, you end the session. 5. The number returns to the pool and stops connecting the two parties. The session is **idempotent on your reference ID**, which matters more than it sounds. Order webhooks retry. Without idempotency, a retried "create session" allocates a second number for the same order and one of the two parties ends up with a number nobody is listening on. ## One-Way or Two-Way Marketplaces almost always need **two-way**. A one-way setup lets the seller or agent call the buyer but not the reverse, and the call the buyer actually wants to make — *where are you?* — is the one that fails. Edesy supports [two-way masking](https://edesy.in/number-masking/features/two-way-masking): both parties dial the same virtual number and routing decides who they reach based on who is calling. Sessions can run from a minute up to 30 days, or persist with no expiry for ongoing relationships. ## Sizing: How Many Numbers A masked number can only represent one active pair at a time, so your pool has to cover **concurrent live sessions**, not total orders. A platform doing 10,000 orders a month with a two-hour delivery window needs far fewer numbers than the order count suggests — the number is reused as soon as the previous session ends. Get this wrong in the tight direction and session creation starts failing at peak, which surfaces as orders that cannot be contacted. See [number pooling](https://edesy.in/number-masking/features/number-pooling). ## What It Costs **₹1.50 per minute**, pay as you go, with two-way masking, call recording, analytics, API access and webhook events included rather than sold as add-ons. Full detail on [number masking pricing](https://edesy.in/number-masking/pricing). The number to model is not price per minute — it is **price per order**. Multiply your average masked call duration by calls per order. Most marketplaces land in single-digit rupees per order, against a take rate measured in tens or hundreds. ## What Masking Does Not Solve Being straight about this saves a disappointing pilot: - **It does not stop someone reading a number aloud.** If a seller says "save my number" on the call, masking cannot prevent that. It raises friction; it does not make leakage impossible. - **It does not cover SMS or WhatsApp.** Edesy number masking is voice. If your two sides also message each other, that is a separate channel and a separate decision. - **It does not fix a bad routing policy.** If your sessions never expire, you have built a permanent directory with extra steps. - **It is not anonymity from you.** You still hold both real numbers — that is what makes support and compliance possible. ## Where It Fits Edesy has dedicated pages for several marketplace shapes: [freelancer platforms](https://edesy.in/number-masking/solutions/freelancer-platforms), [tutor matching](https://edesy.in/number-masking/solutions/tutor-matching), [dating apps](https://edesy.in/number-masking/solutions/dating-apps), [car rental](https://edesy.in/number-masking/solutions/car-rental), [grocery delivery](https://edesy.in/number-masking/solutions/grocery-delivery) and [event management](https://edesy.in/number-masking/solutions/event-management). ## Getting Started Start on the [self-serve portal](https://masking.edesy.in) — create a session, call the number from two phones, and confirm the routing behaves the way your order flow needs before you write any integration code. ## Related Reading - [Number masking pricing in India](https://edesy.in/blog/what-number-masking-costs-india-2026) - [One-way vs two-way masking](https://edesy.in/blog/one-way-vs-two-way-number-masking-2026) - [How many masked numbers do you need](https://edesy.in/blog/how-many-masked-numbers-do-you-need-2026) - [What is number masking?](https://edesy.in/number-masking/guides/what-is-number-masking)