You Should Buy Your Pregnancy Test From The Dollar Store. Here's Why
Discount dollar stores seem to carry everything from paper products to party supplies to medical kits. You may have heard warnings about buying certain items from discount dollar stores due to lack of quality. But one item that's actually worth the low-cost is pregnancy tests.
Name-brand pregnancy tests at drug stores can run up to $20 a pack — a steep price to pay if you're buying multiple packs for a period of time during your pregnancy journey. Despite the price differences, you may be wondering why would you — and should you — trust a cheap pregnancy test?
All pregnancy tests sold in the United States are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so as long as you buy them from a legitimate store, they should be just as accurate as the expensive options (via USA Today).
There really isn't much difference on how the actual tests work from brand to brand. All at-home pregnancy tests, including the ones sold at the dollar store, measure the human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, levels in your urine to determine whether you're pregnant (according to Healthline).
Differences between drug store and dollar store pregnancy tests
Now, there may be some differences in the expensive name-brand options and the budget-friendly pregnancy tests at the dollar stores. The cheaper ones may be more difficult to use, meaning you may be reading the lines instead of a "pregnant or not pregnant" result. You also may not know as quickly, as the expensive versions are often more sensitive so that you'll have your answer sooner (according to USA Today).
If you're still not convinced that a dollar store pregnancy test is legitimate, you can check the FDA's approved at-home lab and test list to confirm your brand is among the approved.
No matter where you buy your test, you should be sure to follow the instructions on your specific test to get the most accurate results.