3 Mistakes to Avoid When Shopping for a DNA Test

Your Free Guide to the Best Valued DNA Tests

Dear Reader,

This article is about information that most DNA test companies aren’t expecting you to read… Did you know that the market for DNA tests has become fiercely competitive in the last year? In fact, the market has more than doubled in size. More people took a DNA test in 2017 than in ALL previous years combined! 2018 is expected to be another record-shattering year.

It’s no surprise that DNA tests are in high demand. The things you learn from them are irresistible:

Ancestry – Everything we’ve ever known about our heritage has come from our parents and grandparents. A DNA test can tell you so much more about who you are and where you’re from. Most companies offer this basic service, but some are far better than others.

Family History – This kind of goes hand-in-hand with Ancestry. If you’re trying to sort out family mysteries, a DNA test can help you solve them. If your parents also have their DNA tested, you can sometimes sort out which genes you received from each side of the family.

Community – Finding out your genetic heritage gets you a deeper connection to the places that you’re “from.” On top of this, some of the best DNA test companies will connect you with people who share pieces of DNA with you. Many people use this feature to discover long-lost relatives.

Health Risks – Some DNA tests can reveal unique traits embedded in your genetic code that may put you at risk for certain health conditions. This can help you alter your lifestyle to try and prevent them.

Family Planning – A DNA test can help you find out what genes you may pass onto your children, for better or worse.

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With so many people clamoring to get their hands on the benefits listed above, more and more DNA test companies have been rising to meet them. Unfortunately, they’re not all created equal.

Now it’s harder than ever to find a good DNA test…

Luckily, you’re in the right place. Our team of scientists, researchers, and writers at Genetics Digest know the field better than most. We’ve examined nearly every DNA test in the booming market. We’ll help you sort out the great ones from the “cheap knockoffs.”

With that said, let’s get started on Common Mistakes People Make When Shopping for a DNA Test…

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Mistake #1: Don’t buy a brand by how “popular” it appears to be.

Some brands have a great marketing team with a massive advertising budget. You might see/hear their ads everywhere. That’s because they’re spending millions to make sure you’ve heard of them.

Despite the great marketing, some of those companies have subpar services at best. They’re more worried about making a sale than they are with actually delivering a quality product.

To be clear, a popular company with great marketing does NOT necessarily mean that they have a bad service. A couple of them have really great services! But you shouldn’t assume that they have a great service just because they appear to be popular, and you also shouldn’t write off lesser-known companies—some of these are new up-and-coming services who will eventually rise to the top of the market. They give you a unique opportunity to be along for the ride.

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Mistake #2: Don’t buy the cheapest OR the most expensive genetic test you can find.

The old mantra “You get what you pay for” applies here. However, price is a tricky quality to navigate.

On the one hand, you don’t want something too cheap. A cheap Ancestry DNA test is most likely not the best dna test and will likely give you very little information. These tests will tell you things you already know about yourself, like which continent your genes came from. Sometimes cheap tests are simply trying to undercut the market—They may be selling at a loss up front with the hopes that customers will buy more from them later.

On the other hand, you don’t want to get ripped off by an over-priced DNA test. Expensive DNA tests may have a great product, but you can often find a product of similar (or even better) quality at a cheaper price.

You have to strike a comfortable middle ground. In our experience, roughly $100 is a fair price for a quality DNA test (give or take a few dollars). Aiming for a test around this amount will help ensure that you get a good product without over-paying.

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Mistake #3: Don’t confuse “Accuracy” with “Precision.”

Almost every DNA test company on the market claims to be the “most accurate.” They’re not lying. DNA tests are typically 99.9% accurate. However, they’re often not precise.

What’s the difference between Accuracy and Precision?

For something to be “accurate,” it just needs to be true. If you have European heritage and your Ancestry DNA test comes back with results that simply say “European,” then it’s an accurate test. It’s giving you results that are true, even if they’re not detailed.

For something to be “precise,” it has to be an exact expression of details. The most precise DNA tests currently on the market have at least 20 unique regions they use in their Ancestry reports. The best companies will have multiple regions on each continent in their reports (rather than having most of their tested regions all on the same continent).

However, you have to be wary of companies overselling how precise their tests are. Some companies claim to have hundreds of regions in their reports. In our experience, this is bending the truth a bit. Most of them really test for 20-30 regions, but then list the names of countries that are contained within those regions without actually testing DNA for them.

For example, if a DNA test determines that someone has Iberian Ancestry, one of these companies might list Spain and Portugal underneath and count those as 2 “regions” for marketing purposes even though they don’t give a percentage breakdown for how much Iberian Ancestry is Spanish or Portugese.

In other words, some companies can be a little misleading with their marketing.

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Our Top 3 Recommended DNA Tests

Now that we’ve shown you what to look out for, we want to share with you some of the best Ancestry DNA tests we’ve seen for discovering your heritage. .

We ranked the services by these 10 factors:
   1) Company Reputation
   2) Services Offered
   3) Testing Method
   4) Software Grade
   5) Research & Scientific Evidence
   6) CLIA Compliance
   7) Customer Reviews
   8) Price
   9) Customer Service
  10) Return Policy

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*Results may be experienced differently by different individuals. This report is developed from clinical studies, research, and customer reviews analyzed by the editors. Further supporting research and documentation can be found in the "Research" section as well as the "Disclosure" section of GeneticsDigest.

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