Dollar Store Pregnancy Tests- Are They Accurate?

If you have been trying to get pregnant for a while then you have probably wondered if you can use the dollar store pregnancy tests instead of shelling out your life savings for the expensive name brands of test.

When I was trying to get pregnant (which was a mission), I was obsessed with testing for a BFP. I think all in all it took me around 18 months to get pregnant. I probably used a pregnancy test at least half of those months, if not more.

Also, call me crazy, but when I eventually got my first ever positive pregnancy test, I kept taking tests for about 2 more weeks, just to make sure I was still pregnant, even though I was experiencing a tons of early signs of pregnancy.

My first ever BFP was at about 13 dpo (days post ovulation for those not familiar with the TTC lingo). And I got it on a dollar store pregnancy testS.

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Many women falsely believe that the cheapie dollar store tests and the even cheaper tests you can buy online are not as sensitive as the expensive ” get your results 5 days sooner” tests but in fact that is not true. Here’s what I learned.

How accurate are $1 pregnancy tests?

The first thing to understand is how pregnancy tests work. They detect the level of a hormone called hCG in your urine. The more hCG in your urine, the more pregnant you are.

This means that the more sensitive the pregnancy test is, the earlier it will be able to detect your pregnancy and give you that positive.

These tests from Amazon are amazing value.

Are dollar store pregnancy tests sensitive?

All pregnancy tests sold in the US are regulated by the FDA so they all do the job.

According to the FDA; “Most pregnancy tests have about the same ability to detect hCG, but their ability to show whether or not you are pregnant depends on how much hCG you are producing. If you test too early in your cycle or too close to the time you became pregnant, your placenta may not have had enough time to produce hCG. This would mean that you are pregnant but you got a negative test result. “

So in theory dollar store pregnancy tests should be just as sensitive as detecting the hCG in your urine as any other test, including the ones your doctor might do.

The main reason you might get a false negative on a pregnancy test, dollar store or otherwise, is that you are testing too early.

How early can you use a dollar store pregnancy test?

All pregnancy tests say that for the most accurate results you should wait to test until 1-2 weeks after your missed period. Not sure who decided that but they obviously have no experience with women who are trying to conceive. 2 weeks is a lifetime!

I was testing from 10 days post ovulation onwards and I’m not the only one.

When I was trying to get pregnant, I did the expensive drug store kits (I loved the digital ones because they spelled out “pregnant” right there.

I also used the cheap dollar store tests from Amazon most of the time because they are so cheap (less than a dollar per test).

In my case, and for two pregnancies, both the expensive tests and the dollar store tests both gave me a positive test well before my pregnancy was due. In my experience they have the same sensitivity, more or less.

Hardcore tester? A value pack of 50 or 100 from Amazon is your best bet.

So, are the dollar store tests accurate?

Yes! Go ahead and use the dollar store tests and save your money for maternity clothes!

The pregnancy tests from Canadian dollar store, Dollarama claim to be 99% accurate.

Wondering how accurate the Dollar Tree pregnancy tests are?

Those are the ones I used and they get amazing reviews.

People claim to get BFPs even 9 days post ovulation with the tests from Dollar Tree so I highly recommend them.

Conclusion

Dollar store tests are accurate and amazing value. If you want the bells and whistles of a fancy drug store test that shows you a smiling face or a digital display, then you won’t find that with these cheap tests.

But if you just want to know if you are pregnant without throwing money down the toilet then, dollar store tests are the way to go!