Everybody has a deal
The fall sale season is about to wrap up for the major DNA companies, giving us — and our cousins — a reason to go ahead and get that DNA test done.
Soon.
Today even.
Yep, at least one sale ends today, so…
In the order of when the sale prices expire (and note that these are US prices, but many offers are also available internationally, so check the websites in your country for more information about international sales):
Ending today, Sunday, November 21 at 11:59 p.m. US Central time, the sale at Family Tree DNA, as always, has the most to choose from since, 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 Finder autosomal test, usually $79, is on sale for $59.
• For YDNA, the basic 37-marker YDNA test, usually $119, is on sale for $79. The 111-marker test, usually $249, is priced at $199. And if you want to go big, the Big Y-700 test, usually $449, is sale priced at $379. 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 $159, is on sale for $139.
Ending Wednesday, November 24 at 11:59 p.m. US Eastern time, the sale at Ancestry DNA has kits on sale for $59, down from the usual $99, and additional special offers on combinations of DNA tests and records memberships.
Ending Friday, November 26 at 11:59 p.m. in some (sigh) unspecific time zone but most likely US Mountain time, MyHeritage DNA is offering its DNA tests for $39, down from the usual $79, with free shipping if you buy two or more kits. You can also get that same price with a free 30-day trial of its records access.
Ending Monday, November 29, no time specified, 23andMe is offering its ancestry and health traits kits for $79, usually priced at $99, and its health and ancestry kits for $99, usually priced at $199. The plus membership, usually priced at $199 for the test and $29 for the membership, is $99 for the test and $9.99 for membership. You can also score a 50%-off deal on the health and ancestry kit if you give them your email address.
Ending at some point, as usual not stated on its website but described as a Black Friday sale, Living DNA has its ancestry kits on sale for $59 plus shipping, down from the usual $99, its wellbeing kits on sale for $69, down from the usual $129, and its ancestry and wellbeing kits for $89 plus shipping, down from the usual $179. The website says you can get free shipping if you order three or more kits.
So everybody has a deal.
That means there really is a deal for everybody.
C’mon, cousins…
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Fall 2021 DNA sales,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 21 Nov 2021).
Last year my children gave DNA kits to myself and their dad from 23&Me. It was fun to see where our ancestry comes from and I have found several relatives. Do you recommend one DNA test over another and would there be any benefit from doing another DNA test with a different company?
For genealogical purposes, to match more cousins, testing again with a company like Ancestry that has by far the biggest database would be a next step. Alternatively, to investigate a surname (a father’s father’s father’s line), YDNA testing at Family Tree DNA would be a good next step. I love mtDNA tests there as well, to investigate the maternal line (a mother’s mother’s mother’s line), but I do recognize that it’s a tad expensive and most useful when you have a specific genealogical question to be answered.