23andMe Offering $50 Off Their Personal Genome Service

Late last night 23andMe sent out an email offer for $50 off of their test (regularly $299) with an individualized discount code. It was sent to both genotyped customers and those with demo accounts. It is only good through Sunday night, so check your inbox. Below is the text of the message. Feel free to use my code VMQ6KG if you didn't receive one since I consider all of you my friends. Enjoy!

Visiting family this summer? Are they part of 23andMe? Take advantage of our summer discount: $50 OFF each kit you purchase. This offer expires in 3 days (11:59PM PDT, Sunday August 12, 2012).

To use this code, visit our online store and add an order to your cart. Click "I have a discount code" and enter the code below

$50 off

Discount code: VMQ6KG

Summer is a time of barbeques, relaxation... and intriguing questions:
Should you eat your hamburger with or without the bun? See your results for celiac disease.	Before hitting the beach, should you return to get the sunglasses you left in your car? See your results for age-related macular degeneration.

To help answer these questions and hundreds more, take a look at all of your results. 
Use your discount to share the 23andMe summer love with family and friends.

Be passionately curious,
The 23andMe Team


And the ancestry version:
You are receiving this message because you have a 23andMe account associated with this email address. Thank you for your interest in 23andMe! To show our appreciation, we would like to offer you a code for $50 off each kit you purchase. This offer expires in 3 days (11:59PM PDT, Sunday August 12, 2012).

To use this code, visit our online store and add an order to your cart. Click "I have a discount code" and enter the code below.

$50 off
Discount code: YHPRD7

There has never been a better time to join 23andMe. In addition to over 200 health and traits reports and access to the largest genealogical DNA database in the world, we have added many exciting new features in 2012:

	No more subscriptions! One upfront price for unlimited access.
	The new My Ancestry dashboard - an exciting introduction to your ancestry results.
	DNA Melody, one of our newest labs, crafts a unique melody based on your genotype.

Have fun exploring your DNA!

The 23andMe Team

23andMe Eliminates Subscription Model and Announces New Price

23andMe has listened to its customers and decided to eliminate the subscription model beginning on Thursday ("end of day"), announcing the new price going forward will be $299. Existing customers who have already completed their subscription commitment of 12 months will not be required to pay the ongoing subscription fee in order to remain part of the 23andMe community. The rest of us who purchased at $99 in the last year will only be required to finish out the remaining portion of our initial 12 month subscription. This eliminates the concerns of genetic genealogists who were worried about the impact of losing Relative Finder matches with subscription lapses and defaults. In the future, participation in some new features may require an additional payment in the future, but as of now, those are undefined. Customers who purchased a Lifetime 23andMe Subscription for $399 since January 1, 2012 will receive a coupon for 50% off another test or will receive a refund of $100. In addition, those who have recently paid the $99 upgrade to a Lifetime Subscription after completing their 12 month subscription will receive refunds. Those who have defaulted on their subscription will be offered the opportunity to pay what is owed and finish off their subscription in order to be included under the new policy.

The post from Anne Wojcicki to the 23andMe community reads:

Dear 23andMe Community,

Effective by the end of day this Thursday, we are eliminating subscriptions and will have a single $299 price. We listened to your feedback and now understand that subscriptions were not good for you and thus, not good for 23andMe. We want you as our partner in this genetic journey. Together we will learn about ourselves and make discoveries that will hopefully benefit all of mankind. We thank you for your feedback, your advice and your suggestions. As partners in this journey, we thank you for your trust.

Here are some additional details:

- We will discontinue billing customers who have fulfilled their subscription commitment.

- Customers who have yet to complete their subscription commitment will continue to be billed each month until their initial contract commitment has been met. Once this commitment is met, no further subscription will be charged and you can enjoy your Personal Genome Service® on an ongoing basis.

- Customers will continue to enjoy access to all of 23andMe’s current features. In the future, 23andMe may launch premium, additive features. We want to emphasize that existing customers will not lose any product functionality with the new pricing structure.

- 23andMe does not have any immediate plans to introduce new premium fee-based features, but we expect to do so in the future.

- Through the end of May, customers interested in upgrading from v2 to v3 can do so for $199. After that it will be $249.

To upgrade, visit this page: https://www.23andme.com/user/upgrade/.

Customers impacted by these changes will be receiving emails directly from us with additional information within the next week.

If you have any questions, contact our Customer Care team: https://customercare.23andme.com/anonymous_requests/new?reference=pricechange.

Warm wishes,
Anne
23andMe CEO

So, if you are one of the minority who prefer the subscription model and/or only have $99 and have been waiting to buy, now (until "end of day" Thursday PST) is the time to order! ($207 total now versus $299)

23andMe changes terms for expired PGS subscription customers

As my readers well know, I have long been an outspoken and dedicated advocate of 23andMe. I'm sure that many of you have become customers after reading my posts. I am very disappointed to have to report that today, for the first time, I was hesitant to recommend 23andMe to a person who contacted me for advice on DNA testing.

Apparently, 23andMe changed their terms of service for v3 customers without notice [Update - 23andMe states that the TOS were not changed, only the FAQs.] According to the new FAQ section under Personal Genome Service, customers who allow their subscription to lapse after the original commitment of 12 months will NOT have access to their Relative Finder matches, Health Reports and all other features that "rely on your genetic data". The new section reads:

If you cancel your subscription, you will no longer have access to the items listed below:

• Access to hundreds of comprehensive reports that interpret your genetic data
• Continual updates to those reports, based on the latest research discoveries
• Ability to share and compare results with friends and family
• Tools to discover new relatives and learn about your ancestry
  

We retain your raw genetic data within your 23andMe account, allowing you to download it at any time, even after you cancel your subscription.
You may reinstate your subscription at any time in the future.
If you cancel, you will be unable to share and compare results with friends and family.
If you cancel, people whom you are sharing genomes with will be unable to view your results or compare results with you. It will be the equivalent of you not having shared in the first place.
Canceling your subscription means you no longer have access to features that rely on your genetic data. Canceling has no effect on features that do not rely on your genetic data, such as user-to-user messaging, 23andMe Community, Family Health History, Research Surveys or Research Snippets.
We encourage you to continue using these features, even if you decide not to subscribe to the Personal Genome Service.

This is a direct contradiction to what I was told directly by a company representative (with the understanding that I would publish it) back in November 2010. Additionally, the old FAQ were clear that customers would retain access to their existing Relative Finder, but would not receive NEW matches after they let their subscription lapse. I published this info on my blog and this encouraged some of my readers to buy under these terms. From my post of November 24, 2010 (note: the following link is dead), 
"...according to this new FAQ, it should be noted that new customers will no longer receive updates, including new Relative Finder matches, if they cancel their PGS subscription, however they will still have access to any existing reports, matches, features and their raw data."

The Terms of Service under Acceptance of Terms states,
You can accept the TOS by (1) clicking to accept or agree to the TOS, where this option is made available to you by 23andMe for any Service; or by (2) actually using the Services. In this case, you acknowledge and agree that 23andMe will treat your use of the Services as acceptance of the TOS from that point onwards. In addition, when using particular 23andMe Services, you shall be subject to any guidelines or rules applicable to such services that may be posted from time to time...

Apparently, by continuing to use their services, we have all agreed to this change even though we were never made aware of it.

I am hoping that 23andMe will rethink this new position.  As is apparent on their Community Forums, even their staunchest supporters (who have been responsible for thousands of sales as well as spending endless hours hand holding new customers in the absence of good customer support) are rethinking their allegiance to 23andMe. Perhaps, this has all been in reaction to FTDNA's announcement that they will soon be allowing uploads of 23andMe v3 raw data to their Family Finder platform. If so, this action is only serving to alienate those who have shown loyalty and support to 23andMe and would have continued to do so. At least they are still allowing raw data downloads, since migrating to FTDNA and/or GEDmatch.com will be the best option for those who do not wish to pay a subscription fee for life.

This is terrible news for those of us who have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to make the most of the Relative Finder feature. I am very glad that I did not upgrade any of my v2 accounts, but I am concerned about the vast amount of information still waiting to be discovered that will soon be lost with my matches who choose not to renew. This decision on the part of 23andMe is honestly bewildering to me. Let's hope 23andMe soon makes a public statement clarifying their intentions.

[Update - 23andMe is willing to listen to our concerns.  A company rep just posted this in the forums:  Again, we are sorry for our poor communication about the subscription changes. We make mistakes, we're human- it's in our DNA. We want to assure you we are listening and we want to hear more. We've created a space for you to post your specific concerns so that we can be sure that you have a voice as we discuss these changes moving forward- http://bit.ly/uk6xqk 
This form helps us more efficiently share your input with teams across the company.
I encourage all of my readers to let your voice be heard!]

[[Update - Please sign the new petition addressing this issue: http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2011/12/petition-asking-23andme-to-reconsider.html]]

23andMe Cyber Monday Discount Today

23andMe has announced their Cyber Monday sale. It isn't as much of a discount as their usual holiday sale and apparently ends at noon PST today [Update- 23andMe says that was a typo and the sale will go through Midnight]:

"Happy Cyber Monday From 23andMe! Today only $25 Off Our Personal Genome Service®. Offer ends 12pm PST Click Here." [Update- if the link doesn't work for you try the code "Cyber2011".]

That's $74 + $9/per month - a big improvement from the price not so long ago, but not the highly anticipated sale that many were expecting.

GearDiary hints that there may be more sales on the horizon, although there is no way to know if they will be any better than this one:
"And for the 2011 holiday season, 23andMe will offer special discounts beginning on Cyber Monday, November 28, 2011, with $25 off via Facebook and Twitter only. Additional holiday specials will be announced on Facebook and Twitter throughout the month of December."

 I'll probably sit this one out. How about you?

23andMe Sale on Monday!

23andMe has jumped the gun and is having their expected DNA Day Sale a bit early. The price will be $9 per month for a minimum of 12 months ($108) with no upfront charges. The following email was sent out to select customers:

"Although DNA Day is officially April 15th, we at 23andMe just couldn't wait that long. So we're celebrating a bit early with a big sale!

For a limited time, you can order a 23andMe kit for $0 up front, plus a 12-month commitment to our Personal Genome Service® at $9/month. This is down from the regular price of $199 plus $9/month.

Existing customers on our v2 genotyping platform can also take advantage of this sale to upgrade to the latest v3 platform for the same price by going to https://www.23andme.com/user/upgrade/.  Once your sample has been processed, you'll receive data on nearly 1 million places in your genome, information about your distant ancestry, and access to more than 180 health reports (optional). With the Personal Genome Service®, we'll also help you connect with potential relatives to fill out your family tree and keep you up to date on the latest research linking genetics to your health and traits. Learn more at http://www.23andme.com. 

This promotional price will be available from 12:00AM PST until 11:59PM PST on Monday 4/11/11, or while supplies last!  
Best Regards,
The 23andMe Team "

23andMe's "New Low Price for All!"

The holiday sale has ended, but it appears that 23andMe has lowered their regular price to $199 (from $499) plus $5 per month for their PGS. This is a fantastic every day price point to entice more people into their database. I am very happy to see that they are staying competitive and making their service affordable to a large demographic. Hopefully, this will result in continuing advancement of our collective knowledge of the human genome.

More Holiday DNA Deals - From FTDNA and GeneTree

23andMe is not the only company that has cut their prices for the holiday. Both GeneTree and FTDNA are offering sales on their Y-DNA tests.

FTDNA's is offering a discount on Y-DNA upgrades. With more and more markers being offered all the time, this is a good chance to get the most of your Y-DNA results with the #1 most trusted company offering this test. If you have tested only 12 markers, you can upgrade to 37 for $69 ($30 off) or 67 for $149 ($40 off).  If you have tested 25 markers, you can upgrade to 67 for $148 ($39 off) and 37 marker tests can be upgraded to 67 for $79 ($20 off). These prices should appear when you log in to your personal page and click on the special offers link in the left hand navigation bar. Orders must be placed and paid for by December 1st. Obviously, you must have already tested at least 12 markers at FTDNA to qualify for this offer. Hopefully, FTDNA will have another offer before the end of the year to entice new customers into their huge database.

GeneTree's sale is on their Y-46 marker test. They are offering it for only $79.95 ($100 off) through Monday, Nov 29, 2010. I don't have any experience with this company, but the upside to testing with them is that, by doing so, your results are included in Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation's database. Judging from the recent media articles, GeneTree is making a real effort to build a meaningful database of integrated "paper" genealogy research and DNA results. They encourage users to input their genealogy into their database by building family trees on their site. I really like this concept and will be keeping my eyes and ears open for more on this company.

23andMe's sale has now opened up to the public with no code required. According to a post on their Facebook page, the sale is expected to last through Monday. There now appears to be an option to order their product at the regular $499 price without the requirement of the PGS subscription. (Look under the red "Order Now" button for the blue writing, "Order for $499 with no subscription commitment".) This is very interesting. Perhaps they are rethinking the subscription requirement due to the negative feedback from their existing customers and the genetic genealogy community.

[Disclosure - My company StudioINTV has an existing production agreement with FTDNA that has no bearing on the opinions I express. I receive no other compensation in relation to any of the companies or products referenced in my blog.]

23andMe Sale and Updates

The 23andMe sale inadvertently went live early this morning (from about 2:00am - 8:00am PST) and many were able to order what was previously called the Complete Edition, now their only offering, for $99 plus a one year subscription to the Personal Genome Service ($159 total). This was not intentional since the sale was not meant to start until 10am PST.

From 23andMe:
"...There will be an update posted in the community after 10 am. I'm pretty sure...nobody will be disappointed. Getting our service into the hands of as many people as possible is our #1 goal...I hope everyone realizes that whatever plans we had went somewhat awry, and for that we are deeply apologetic. However, it is too late to rearrange the moving pieces, so nothing new will happen until 10am...Trust me, we know this is not an ideal situation - we would never have chosen to do it this way."

Judging from this, it appears that the sale will reappear at 10am, as originally planned. [Updated- The sale is now live and, reportedly, should last through Friday. All codes that have been released in the last 24 hours are valid, including CUBPNY.]

23andMe officially announced the availability of their new chip with this press release today, as well as updating their FAQs to address some of the questions that have arisen. In particular, according to this new FAQ, it should be noted that new customers will no longer receive updates, including new Relative Finder matches, if they cancel their PGS subscription, however they will still have access to any existing reports, matches, features and their raw data. Existing customers will continue to get updates for all reports based on the current chip. Any new reports that have data on the old chip will be available to them, without subscription or upgrade. To answer a common concern, 23andMe has confirmed with me that non-upgraded kits will still receive new Relative Finder matches from among the new orders. They said that the goal is for the existing kits to not be impacted by the new changes. Therefore, existing customers who do not upgrade will not be affected at this time, but, obviously, will not receive the benefits of the new technology. Current customers are being encouraged not to automatically upgrade, but rather to wait until they "see the value". We are assured that the option will continue to be available.

It is also my understanding that if you have kits that you bought before Monday, but haven't yet sent them in, they will be processed on the new v3 chip and do NOT require a subscription! (That is the best deal of all!)

With the above in mind, I plan to order a whole new kit instead of upgrading. Since the upgrade costs $89 plus a monthly subscription of $5, then it is only $10 more for a whole new kit. That way I can keep my existing kit without the subscription and continue to get new Relative Finder matches and continued updates, even if I decide to cancel the subscription for the new kit after 12 months. I will report the differences here when I get my results. [Update- 23andMe is discouraging this approach because it will fragment the information (surveys, etc)  and may confuse users (multiple RF profiles).]

News from 23andMe - Consolidated offerings, Personal Genome Service, upgraded chip and possible sale

The DNA genealogy mailing lists and Twitter are all abuzz about 23andMe's new consolidated offerings and price structure, as well as the possibility of another $99 sale tomorrow.  Back in September, I wrote about 23andMe's new subscription plan - the Personal Genome Service here and here.  Not surprisingly, they appear to have changed their model to require this subscription for all new orders starting today. (It seems that 23andMe has taken a lesson from direct response marketing - where we used to say that product is King, but now we all know that continuity is King!) They have done away with the separate Health and Ancestry Editions and now will only offer what was formerly the Complete Edition for $499 plus a minimum one year subscription to their PGS ($5 per month). All customers who formerly had the separate editions have been automatically upgraded and will immediately have access to their raw data as well as all tools currently offered on the site.

23andMe has also announced that they have upgraded their testing chip to the Illumina OmniExpress Plus Genotyping Beadchip, which was originally released in January of this year and enhanced in March. Information on this chip (before enhancements) from the press release:

• Premiere Genomic Coverage - Greater than 700,000 strategically selected tagSNPs provide genomic coverage up to 90% for Caucasian and Asian populations as assessed by the International HapMap Project.
• Proven Data Quality - Industry-standard Infinium HD Assay affords greater than 99% average call rates and greater than 99.9% reproducibility.
• Industry Best Throughput - With the iScan System, researchers can process in excess of thousands of samples per week.

Specifications for the original are here. 23andMe may have a custom designed version of this. The original press release described a chip with coverage of 733,202 markers, while the enhanced "Plus" version appears to cover greater than 900,000 markers. Either way, it is a significant upgrade from the previous 580,000 SNPs. (I am not an expert on this, so please refer to the original sources yourself for details and clarification; more here.)

[Update - From 23andMe's updated FAQs :  
The DNA chip that we use genotypes hundreds of thousands of SNPs at one time. It actually reads 1,000,000 SNPs that are spread across your entire genome. Although this is still only a fraction of the 10 million SNPs that are estimated to be in the human genome, these 1,000,000 SNPs are specially selected "tag SNPs." Because many SNPs are linked to one another, we can often learn about the genotype at many SNPs at a time just by looking at one SNP that "tags" its group. This maximizes the information we can get from every SNP we analyze, while keeping the cost low.
In addition, we have hand-picked tens of thousands of additional SNPs of particular interest from the scientific literature and added their corresponding probes to the DNA chip. As a result, we can provide you personal genetic information available only through 23andMe.
There is a list of the 733,202 non-custom markers here.]

Existing customers have the option to upgrade their results to this new testing platform for $89, but it also requires subscription to the Personal Genome Service. Existing customers will not be required to subscribe or upgrade and will still receive their updates as before. Not surprisingly, without the upgrade, some new information based on specific markers will not be available.

All week 23andMe has been tweeting about upcoming sales and one tweeter who may or may not have inside info tweeted this morning, "@23andMe $99 discount returns; code B84YAG to be live 10 AM Wednesday for the new v3 chip."  I imagine this sale price will require a subscription to the Personal Genome Service, but at only $5/per month, this is still a great deal.

I will post updates as I get them, but keep your eye on 23andMe!

**UPDATE - 23andMe is determined to keep the details secret until tomorrow. We will just have to be patient! Check back then for more...

No Need for Panic, Business as Usual: 23andMe's Personal Genome Service Subscription

I posted yesterday about 23andMe's new Personal Genome Service subscription plan. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation about this new service and many existing customers are concerned about the potential of having to pay for continuing access to their results and new matches. As I pointed out before, the subscription is NOT required for the Ancestry Edition, which leads me to believe that it has nothing to do with access to future matches and Ancestry services.

Here are my thoughts as a marketing professional (they are my opinion only without any further input from 23andMe):

I am going to go out on a limb and say that I am confident that existing customers will not be charged to see their results in the future. I think this move would earn 23andMe so much bad press and ill will that it would ruin them. I trust they will not alienate their existing, loyal customer base. This is an innovative company with a goal to grant each individual access to their personal genome. Just like Google's mission is to "democratize information,"  23andMe's mission is to make genetic information available to the masses. To continue to make this fiscally possible, they must be profitable. They are simply testing marketing strategies in line with those goals. This is a proactive and, possibly, necessary marketing move. Lower upfront prices will result in more customers. Think of the "subscription" as a payment plan. When we at StudioINTV run the direct response ads that we produce, we test many different price points and payment plans. Continuity is a proven money maker and a necessity for success in some campaigns. I really believe 23andMe is just testing the waters and trying to determine what "plan" results in the most customers. Not everyone has $500 upfront and that big ticket price sometime scares away even those who do.

Business as usual, ladies and gentleman. no need for panic.


***Update: A reader has shared this email with me:

Thank you for contacting us.  We're happy to clarify for you.

--- 23andMe would like to make our service accessible to as many people as possible.  To that end, we are currently exploring the viability of a lower entry point.  This pricing will be available for a limited time.
--- Existing customers are not impacted at all.  You will continue to receive all updates at no additional cost. (emphasis mine)
--- Multi-kit discounts do not apply to the subscription edition of the service.  The multi-kit discounts will still apply to Ancestry Edition (at $229), the Health Edition (at $429) and the Complete Edition (at $499).  The discount is $25 off per kit for Ancestry or Health when you purchase two or more and $50 off per kit for Complete when you purchase two or more.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Best Regards,
The 23andMe Team

Sale and New Personal Genome Service Subscription at 23andMe

Today 23andMe has announced their new Personal Genome Service in conjunction with the sale price of $229 for either the Health or Ancestry Editions and $299 for the Complete Edition. In order to qualify for the sale price, the Health and Complete Editions require a minimum 3-month subscription commitment to this new service at $5/per month. Apparently, the Ancestry Edition does not. (This may lead to speculation that the new service has something to do with the impending FDA regulations.) Since this sale is a test it could end at any time.
A rep at 23andMe told me that the goal is "to get this (their product) into as many people's hands as possible, so we'll periodically do some testing of lower price points." Beyond that, the representative declined to elaborate at this time.