Outsource data entry, one small task at a time

Hiring someone for a few thousand rows of copying and checking is slow, and doing it yourself is worse. With Tasklify you can outsource data entry to a pool of remote workers by splitting the job into small, checkable units, then pay per approved entry rather than per hour.

Who this data entry outsourcing is for

Online shops building catalogues, agencies compiling lead lists from public directories, researchers coding open-ended responses, and operations teams cleaning up legacy spreadsheets. In each case the work is repetitive, easy to explain with an example, and easy to verify by spot checks.

Jobs that suit crowdsourced data entry

• Product listings: copy title, price, size and material from a supplier page into set fields.
• Web lookups: find the official website, opening hours or phone number of a public business.
• Transcription: type out short printed text from a clear image, such as a menu or a label.
• Tagging and categorising: assign each product, image or comment to one of a fixed set of categories.
• Cleanup and verification: check whether an existing record still matches its source and correct it if not.

Poor fits: anything needing judgement you cannot write down, access to your internal systems, or data you are not allowed to share.

Split the work into small units

The single most important decision is the size of one unit. One task slot should be one record, or a small batch of up to about ten, taking two to five minutes. Small units mean:

• Mistakes are cheap: you reject one row, not a day’s work.
• Many workers work in parallel, so the job finishes faster.
• Review is quick because each submission has the same shape.

Before publishing the full job, run a pilot of 20 to 30 units. You will find ambiguous fields and missing rules in the first hour, and fixing the brief at that point costs almost nothing.

A data entry brief that works

Always include a sample row that shows exactly what a correct answer looks like, including formatting.

Write rules for edge cases (missing fields, several prices, sale prices) before workers ask. Every rule you add removes a reason to reject later.

Double entry for accuracy

For data that matters, have each record entered twice by two different people. Set repeat to once so no worker picks up the same unit twice, and give each unit two slots. When the answers match, approve both. When they differ, check the source yourself or post a third entry for that record. This double-entry approach catches most typos and misreadings at roughly twice the reward cost, which is often cheaper than cleaning bad data later.

Targeting data entry workers

• Countries: all, Tier 1, or specific countries. Choose a country list when entries need local knowledge, such as UK postcodes or German product terms.
• Device: Desktop for spreadsheet-style or multi-field work; Any for single-field lookups.
• Minimum approval rate of 90 or 95% and minimum completed tasks of 50 or 200 once your pilot shows the format is right.
• Repeat: once per unit for double entry, or unlimited when each worker may process many different rows from a list.
• Plus-only for a smaller, more experienced pool.
• Time limit of 30 minutes, a review window from 24 hours to 7 days, and a scheduled start so batches open when you can review them.

Cost of outsourcing data entry

Here is 400 product records entered twice (double entry, 800 submissions) at $0.10 per entry:

Single entry of the same 400 records would be $44.80 including the 12% fee. Your first deposit earns a 10% bonus, capped at $5: $5 on a $89.60 top-up. The minimum top-up is $10, and slots nobody uses come back to your balance when the task closes. See pricing and fees.

Quality control during review

• Proof type: a text answer for single rows; a file upload (CSV or TXT, up to 20 MB) for batches.
• Spot-check a sample against the source before bulk-approving the rest of a batch.
• Reject rows that break the stated format, with a written reason; request changes once when a single field is wrong.
• Duplicate-text and duplicate-file flags show when a worker pastes someone else’s answer.
• Block workers who guess instead of writing N/A. Disputes are decided by Tasklify, normally within 48 hours.
• Review window: 24 hours to 7 days, with auto-approve available if you prefer to fix errors yourself later.

What you should not send

Do not outsource data entry that includes sensitive or personal data about your customers, employees or anyone else, unless you have a lawful basis to share it with anonymous workers, which is rare. Data entry must not be a disguise for creating accounts, posting reviews, generating fake likes or followers, or scraping sites against their terms. The Acceptable Use Policy lists everything that is not allowed.