SA charges $4.99 to get verified on your profile. They will ask for you to send pics of your ID, front and back, plus a selfie. Then they will put the verification sticker on your profile. I'm thinking about this because one recent profile I browsed, a very cute red head, said in all caps she would not converse unless you are verified. I've never seen the need for it, but the only downside I can see is risking your anonymity. Since I don't care one bit who might find out I am sugar dating, there seems no risk at all in getting verified. What's your opinions?
I'm married and don't want to get discovered, yet I would consider this low risk. I got caught in the Ashley Madison hack and started getting extortion emails. But I just ignored them because they are after low hanging fruit and really wouldn't waste time trying to "expose" me. They just mass mail and hope suckers fall for it.
.
The other threat would be LE, but it's not even clear what they could do with the info.
.
So to me it is too low risk to worry about.
I have verified my photos, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn profiles with SA. I don't see the value in paying them to validate my ID, though I assume the $4.99 fee is mostly passed on to a 3rd party service provider that does ID verification for many sites. My guess is SA is not offering this to generate additional revenue. Rather they know that every vector of trust they can add gets them closer to looking like a legit dating site and further away from a quasi-hooker site.
Having said that, I always show a POT my ID at the M&G, and I ask to see hers as well. In fact, if she is less than 22, I insist on seeing her ID to ensure she is over 18. I explain that exchanging ID's builds trust and safety. That usually works well for me.
Life is good
The Cat 
I also insist on exchanging IDs with the younger ones. It does build trust and makes them feel like you are looking out for their safety as well as your own.