Test that DNA!
Once again the DNA testing companies are giving us — and our cousins — no excuse for not getting that DNA test done.
Yes, it’s sale time again, with sales for the American Thanksgiving holiday offered by all the major DNA companies.
And the deals are good enough for the next few days that we — and our cousins — really have no excuse for not testing. Really.
The following prices are US prices, but many offers are also available internationally, so check the websites in your country for more information about international sales:
• At 23andMe, the sale price is $49 if you buy two or more ancestry kits, usually priced at $99 each, and $69 if you order just one. Note that the $199 health and ancestry kits are not on sale. The sales price is good through November 22.
• AncestryDNA’s kits are now $59 on sale, down from the usual $79. The sale price is good through November 21.
• LivingDNA, one of the newer entrants to the testing arena and located in the United Kingdom, has its kits on sale for $79 plus shipping (no expiration date shown). LivingDNA has recently announced a partnership with the British genealogy website FindMyPast.com, but note that the sale price is not shown there at all.
• MyHeritageDNA has its kits on sale for $49 (normally $79), and you get free shipping if you order two or more tests. The sale lasts through November 22. And remember, you can upload your data from other testing companies to MyHeritage for free — but only until December 1.
And then there’s the Family Tree DNA sale, where there’s a lot more to choose from because, unlike the other testing companies, Family Tree DNA offers full range of genealogical DNA tests, including YDNA tests for the direct paternal line and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tests for exploring the direct maternal line.
The Family Tree DNA sale prices are also good through November 22:
• The Family Finder autosomal test, usually $79, is on sale for $49.
• Family Finder combined with Y-37, usually $248, is priced at $143. (Remember, only males can take YDNA tests.)
• Family Finder combined with full mtDNA, usually $278, is priced at $183.
• Family Finder combined with Y-67 and full mtDNA, usually $546, is priced at $362.
• For YDNA only, the basic 37-marker YDNA test, usually $169, is on sale for $99. The 67-marker test, usually $268, is priced at $179 and the 111-marker test, usually $359, is priced at $219. And if you want to go big, the Big Y-500 test, usually $649, is sale priced at $499. If you’ve already done some YDNA testing but want more, there are great upgrade prices as well — check the website for details.
• On the maternal line side, the full mtDNA sequence test, usually $199, is on sale for $139.
With prices like these, there’s something for everyone on sale right now… no excuses for not getting that DNA test done.
LivingDNA sale ends November 22, or when supplies run out. FindMyPast added a sale price of $89 which is $10 more than LivingDNA even though they use LivingDNA to process the kits. They added the sale price a few days ago as I monitor all of the major and a number of not so major DNA sites almost daily.
Ancestry has an on-again, off-again extra sale where you can Buy 2, Get 1 Free; Buy 3, Get 1 Free; or Buy 4, Get 1 Free that shows up below the $59 price. You have to click on the link for the Get 1 Free link as it won’t show up if you click the $59 first link. It varies not only from day to day, but during the day and it can also vary between individuals. My computer is set up to auto-log off when I close my browser, which is usually several times a day as my browser tends to become a resource hog on a regular basis. I may not see the extra sale if I am logged in.
Thanks for the added info.
I have an adopted daughter from Liberia, West Africa. She is interested and getting her DNA tested in order to find any relatives living in the USA or anywhere else. Do you know what would be the best service to use for an African person? Thanks–Any help would be greatly appreciated. ~LB
Adoptees need to test as broadly as they can, to maximize the chances of finding that one cousin who may have critical information. See DNA testing for adoptees: 2017 — a little dated but the concept holds.