DNA holiday sale time!
The Legal Genealogist readily admits it.
I am a sucker for a DNA sale.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it’s not Sunday and here I am writing about DNA again.
So sue me.
It’s a sale, for pete’s sake.
And not just a sale, but one that actually has some (dare I say it?) fun attached.
Family Tree DNA launches its 2014 Holiday Sale at 10 a.m. Central time today (that’s like about a nanosecond ago if I pushed “publish” at the right moment), and here’s the deal.
First off, there are the usual discounts on the usual tests:
And for new tests, here’s the line-up of prices (good through December 31 (11:59 p.m. Central time) for kits bought and paid for by then):
|
Test |
Regular Price |
Sale Price |
|
Y-DNA37 |
$169 |
$129 |
|
Y-DNA67 |
$268 |
$199 |
|
Y-DNA111 |
$359 |
$289 |
|
Y-DNA12 to Y-DNA37 |
$99 |
$78 |
|
Y-DNA12 to Y-DNA67 |
$189 |
$149 |
|
Y-DNA12 to Y-DNA111 |
$339 |
$257 |
|
Y-DNA25 to Y-DNA37 |
$49 |
$39 |
|
Y-DNA25 to Y-DNA67 |
$149 |
$119 |
|
Y-DNA25 to Y-DNA111 |
$249 |
$209 |
|
Y-DNA37 to Y-DNA67 |
$99 |
$78 |
|
Y-DNA37 to Y-DNA111 |
$220 |
$187 |
|
Y-DNA67 to Y-DNA111 |
$129 |
$109 |
|
Family Finder |
$99 |
$89 |
|
Big Y |
$575 |
$525 |
|
mtDNA Full Sequence |
$199 |
$169 |
|
mtDNA+ to Full Sequence |
$159 |
$139 |
Now those prices are pretty cool. But that’s not the fun part. The fun part is something called Mystery Reward discounts.
Every week between now and the end of the year, every customer is going to get an icon on the myFTDNA dashboard. Click on the icon, and you go to the rewards page to find out how much the additional discount is that you can add on top of the sale prices in the chart you see above here.
The Mystery Reward will be anything from a specific dollar amount good against any test (or combination of tests) to a product-specific discount (think a really really cheap Family Finder test, for example). The total dollar award could be as much as $100. You can use your reward for your own test — or share it with a friend.
And if you’ve already bought a Big Y test, you’ll get another coupon good for $50 off another Big Y test. And yes, you can share that with a friend too.
Now that’s a DNA sale…
And The Legal Genealogist can’t resist a DNA sale…
I’m looking at the FTDNA site and can’t locate the sale as of 1 PM Eastern. I couldn’t find anything in their blog either. Is it possible that its only for existing customers? Or would existing customers have to invite/share the sale information to potential customers?
Thanks. Keep up the great work!
They appear to be having some technical problems. Stand by!
FYI–Quick update- as of 7 PM Eastern, the discounts are in place, but no sign of Mystery Rewards Discount, but I haven’t gone so far as submitting at the credit card screen yet. Here’s what I saw on the price list:
Family Finder -$10 $89
Y37 -$40 $129
Y67 -$69 $199
Y111 -$70 $289
mtDNA+ -$0 $69
mtFullSequence -$30 $169
Family Finder + Y67 -$79 $288
Family Finder + mtFull -$40 $258
Family Finder + Y37 -$50 $218
Comprehensive Genome -$109 $457
Yes, it’s working now, Andrew. To see the mystery rewards, (a) hit F5 to refresh your browser and (b) be aware that you’re going to need a plugin for the animation to run. (I think it’s Flash but I’m not 100% sure.)
Hello, Hello, I took advantage of the offer on the Family finder test but it took a few tries. I finally got it for $84., my mystery reward was $5. off the sale price. My question is does anyone know if this sale is good in England & New Zealand ? I am working on a Family Tree Line with 3 others & would like them to take a DNA test. I also have previously taken a MtDNA full sequence, which so far hasn’t given me any contacts.
FTDNA will be happy to ship just about anywhere, or you have buy the kits and send them yourself. (I have a YDNA family line that matches to a New Zealand family.)
I have a question and need an answer, I bought and paid for a number of kits. When I logged in as my sister there is a coupon that I would like to use on my cousin X . Do I gift the coupon to ME? or to cousin X? In any case I want to use the coupon.
Just use the coupon code (only once) when you order the kit.
TLG — Do you have a recommended strategy to managing a kit and results when the donor/contributor wants to remain anonymous? Would it be good to use a code attached to your own name, or some other method? And, when you start to put up a tree and other info, do you start with a generation back. Or is that defeating the purpose.?
I want to test these people when they are willing, but they are adamant about personal privacy and I’m unsure how to be a good steward of their trust.
Thanks!
This is something to discuss with the donor, Denise, but at a minimum:
(a) Choose some identification method that makes sense to you and protects the person’s privacy. Using, as an example, John Doe LastName or Jane Doe LastName is one possibility. Another would be a code attached to your own name or something like “AncestralSurname Cousin 001.” Any of those will work.
(b) For the family tree, my own view is that we should NOT put any living person’s information online without that person’s consent. Once you’re beyond the living generations, I think it’s fair game (understanding that there are folks out there who will strongly object to seeing their own family members online even if they’re deceased). This poses the biggest problem when you’re dealing with AncestryDNA because the only real value of AncestryDNA (beyond the match list itself) is the tree-matching, and to do tree matching you have to have (1) a public tree and (2) a specific person linked to the tree as the person tested. So what I’d do is work with your test candidates on a system they can live with, using codes for any living person with consent.
Thanks, Judy. This is a bit of a sticky wicket, but your idea seems like a workable solution. Of course, if someone wanted to uncover an identify they’d only have to go through the posted tree and it shouldn’t be too had to figure out who’s who. But without names, there is not much value. Trade offs.
Judy,
I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today’s Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2014/12/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-december-5.html
Have a great weekend!