Batch skip tracing: per-record prices and what hit rates really mean
By Josh MillerUpdated 4 min readBatch skip tracing uploads a whole list and returns phone numbers and emails for each owner, at about 12 to 15 cents a record on published price pages. Clean the list first, take out sold, listed and duplicate owners, and judge the result by how many calls reach the right person, since a "hit" only means a number came back.
Batch skip tracing is the same lookup as single tracing, run on a whole list at once. It's how investors who call get numbers for hundreds or thousands of owners. Here's what you're paying for and how to get more from it.
Per record or per match?
The first thing to ask is what you're charged for:
- Per match: you pay only when the service returns data. REISkip, for one, publishes 15 cents a match with a 50-match minimum (checked October 20, 2026).
- Per record: you pay for every record uploaded, matched or not.
- Credits: a monthly plan includes an allowance; traces draw it down.
On a list full of LLC and trust owners, which often don't match, per-match pricing can cost far less.
What a hit rate really counts
A hit means the service returned at least one number. It doesn't mean the number works or belongs to the owner. Services advertise roughly 70 to 90 percent; the share of calls that reach the right person is always lower. The only way to know is to call a sample and count. How to test services against each other.
Clean the list first
| Take out | Why |
|---|---|
| Owners who sold or listed | They're not your seller anymore |
| Duplicate owners across lists | You'd pay again for the same person |
| Records with no owner name | They won't match |
| Government and bank-owned properties | There's no one to call |
Start from a fresh list
A trace on a stale record finds an owner who may have moved on. In our tracking, the big licensed data sources ran about 12 days behind the county in the median county, and none of the 1,654 counties we could measure was same-day. See the lag in your county.
Questions investors ask
What is batch skip tracing?
Uploading a list of owners in one file and getting back phone numbers and emails for each, instead of looking them up one at a time.
How much does batch skip tracing cost per record?
About 12 to 15 cents a record on published price pages checked October 20, 2026, like REISkip at 15 cents a match. Some services charge per record uploaded, some only per match; ask which.
Do I pay for records that don't match?
Depends on the service. Pay-per-match services charge only when they return data; others charge per record submitted. On a list with many LLC or trust owners, the difference adds up.
How do I improve my skip tracing results?
Send clean records: correct owner names, mailing addresses, LLCs flagged, and no owners who already sold. Garbage in, garbage out.