FTDNA Holiday Sale 2016

FTDNA is kicking off its 2016 Holiday Sale today. If you are unfamiliar with FTDNA's recent holiday sales, here is how they work. The sale prices are very good. Some at the lowest prices I have ever seen. Here are the sale prices I have seen:

1. YDNA37       $139 
2. YDNA67       $229
3. YDNA111     $319
4. BIGY           $525
5. mtDNA Plus $79
6. mtDNA FMS $179
7. mtDNA upgrade $139
8. Family Finder (FF) $59
9. FF + 37      $188
10. FF + 67      $278
11. FF + 111    $364
12. FF + FMS   $228
13. FF + 67 + FMS $452

These prices are expected to be available until the end of the year. In addition to these great sales prices, FTDNA has added a minor social media frenzy the last couple of years by offering weekly coupon codes each Monday during the sale. They expire the following Sunday. These codes reduce the cost below the above sale prices. They can be used by the person who receives them on their myFTDNA page OR they can be shared with others. If you receive codes that you know you will not be using, please share them with other family members, fellow DNA project members or the general genetic genealogy community through Facebook. On Facebook it may be better to just state what level of coupon code you have and ask interested people to contact you. These codes can only be used once and then are no longer valid.

The codes are generated at random to your myFTDNA pages. They are expected to include the following discounts:

1. $10 off any YDNA STR 
2. $20 off any YDNA STR
3. $40 off YDNA 67
4. $60 off YDNA 111
5. 10% off any YDNA Upgrade
6. 20% off any YDNA Upgrade
7. $50 off Big Y
8. $75 off Big Y
9. $100 off Big Y
10. $10 off FF
11. $10 off any mtDNA product
12. $20 off any mtDNA product
13. $40 off FMS

If you see any other coupon codes, please post a comment at the end of this blog post.

The strategy comes in if you are planning to do additional testing but are on a limited budget. How long do you wait for the bigger discounts to show up? There are fewer of them. Is it better to order using a smaller discount which will expire the following Monday or gamble that a bigger discount will come your way some other week?

Let the games begin and enjoy the fun as we build our genetic genealogy databases for the benefit of us all.

Has anyone seen holiday sales prices for other companies?  

Holiday DNA Sales -- Part 2

FTDNA sure came up with a way to entertain for the next 5 weeks those of us who are DNA junkies. The introduction of the Mystery Reward to the sale is a game changer. If gives us a chance to open our presents (Mystery Reward) discount codes before Christmas -- actually every week. Now the tactical planning can begin. The currently available Mystery Rewards expire Sunday night. 

Apparently they come in 11 categories as Angela Robertson reported on the ISOGG Facebook site: "There are supposed to be 11 kinds of coupon codes. I have identified 10 of those 11 so far. (I don't have all these, but have been tabulating from posts I've seen.) Anyone know which one is missing?"

Now the tactics for a winning holiday genetic genealogy season quickly are coming to the fore. Since you will be offered a new Mystery Reward each week until the end of December, should you wait and hope for a "better" discount? Should you use the discount code you have before it expires on Sunday night? Should you give it to a family member or friend? Should you offer it to a fellow genetic genealogist? The codes are transferable but have a limited life. A secondary marked has already erupted on Facebook. 

If your Mystery Reward is not showing up on your MyFTDNA page you probably need to clear the cache of your browser and try again. That worked for me.

ySEQ

Another holiday sale appeared yesterday from Thomas and Astrid Krahn:

YSeq has also announced that all its extensive catalog of tests for individual yDNA SNPs are on sale for $19 per test. This sale is scheduled to end on December 3rd.


Join in the fun. No Black Friday sale has excited me like this in years.