2012-02-16 MyHeritage selling Family Tree DNA Tests

Yet another Family Tree DNA reseller

DNA tests

As of today, MyHeritage is offering a range of DNA tests:

Three different Y-DNA tests (paternal line)
Three different mtDNA tests (maternal line)
Family Finder (autosomal DNA test to find close relatives)
Comprehensive Genome

The three different Y-DNA tests differ in the number of markers they test; the Y-DNA12, Y-DNA37 and Y-DNA67 tests involve 12, 37 and 67 markers respectively.
The three different mtDNA also differ in how much is tested, and are known as mtDNA (HVR1), mtDNAPlus (HVR1 & HVR2) and mtFullSequence (HVR1, HVR2 & Coding Region).
The eight different tests can be bought individually or as part of one of five preconfigured bundles.

Family Tree DNA

MyHeritage's blog entry NEW: MyHeritage DNA tests for genealogy! almost makes it sound as if MyHeritage just invented DNA testing and is now offering something no one else is offering yet: MyHeritage is proud to take genealogy to the new millennium by offering a revolutionary technology for advancing family history research — DNA testing — at affordable prices..
The simple truth is that MyHeritage is not offering anything new, and has not created its own DNA testing service, but is merely the latest partner of Family Tree DNA.

MyHeritage is selling DNA tests offered by Family Tree DNA. The DNA tests you order through MyHeritage are performed by Family Tree DNA. The results of test ordered through MyHeritage will be stored at Family Tree DNA. Family Tree DNA users who want to do so can share their data on ysearch.org or mitosearch.org.

test	Family Tree DNA	MyHeritage
Y-DNA12	-	US$ 99
Y-DNA37	US$ 169	US$ 149
Y-DNA67	US$ 268	US$ 239
Y-DNA11	US$ 359	-
mtDNA	-	US$ 99
mtDNAPlus	US$ 159	US$ 159
mtFullSequence	US$ 299	US$ 289
Family Finder	US$ 289	US$ 289
SuperDNA	US$ 548	-
Comprehensive Genome	US$ 837	US$ 797
Family Finder + Y-DNA12	US$ 339	-
Family Finder + Y-DNA37	US$ 438	US$ 438
Family Finder + mtDNA	US$ 339	-
Family Finder + mtDNAPlus	US$ 438	US$ 438
Family Finder + mtFullSequence	US$ 559	US$ 559
Y-DNA37 + mtDNAPlus	US$ 299	US$ 269
Y-DNA67 + mtDNAPlus	US$ 399	US$ 399

pricing

The MyHeritage blog post mentions introductory pricing, but do not get your hopes up. The table shows that most of their prices are identical to the regular Family Tree DNA prices. Only a few MyHeritage prices are more attractive than the regular Family Tree DNA pricing.

The introductory pricing takes 15% of the regular price, but those introductory prices are only available to MyHeritage subscribers, and their cheapest subscription, MyHeritage Premium (which allows small family trees of up to 2500 individuals) is US$ 60 per year. Getting that subscription to gain a discount makes financial sense for products or bundles over US$ 400 only.

Perhaps more interesting than the pricing is that MyHeritage does not offer the full range of Family Tree DNA tests, the Y-DNA111 and SuperDNA are not available through MyHeritage, and that Family Tree DNA is no longer Y-DNA12 or mtDNA (HVR1 only) tests directly, but still offering these tests through MyHeritage.

MyHeritage

Their blog post makes it seem that way, but MyHeritage is not offering its own DNA projects. Logged-in users can join existing Family Tree DNA projects. This is a sensible move. It makes more sense to join a Family Tree DNA project than to limit your scope to MyHeritage users who ordered through Family Tree DNA. New Family Tree DNA customers benefits from the network effect: the existing Family Tree DNA customer base makes connecting with others more likely.

Right now, MyHeritage is just another middleman selling Family Tree DNA test, and their pricing is nearly identical. Their introductory pricing is attractive, but requires that you are or become a MyHeritage subscriber.
It is reasonable to assume that MyHeritage aims for deeper integration of DNA tests into their services, for example by allowing Family Tree DNA users to import their DNA test results into their MyHeritage family tree.

update

2012-02-16 instant update

The MyHeritage blog post makes it seem that MyHeritage is hosting its own DNA projects. That is not the case. MyHeritage is merely presenting Family Tree DNA projects on the MyHeritage site.