Spending your money on Family research - where are those bargains?

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi, Everyone,
I've often wondered whether, when I've had to pay out hard-earned money on some piece of evidence in the search for my ancestors, whether I've had value for money or not.
If it takes two goes before you get the right BMD certificate, then that's £14 - and you can buy a quite decent book for the cost of those two pieces of paper...
If you go to High Holborn and order a copy of a will there you might get as many as 43 pages (as I did once) if the will is a long one and it costs only £5, the same as you'd pay for a will that contains just a single page - now that's what I call value...
And you can spend a huge amount of money asking for a search at an hourly rate, and end up with absolutely nothing that adds to your knowledge...
So what do fellow Rootschatters feel has been good value, and what has felt rather like "money down the drain"?
Keith

[the happy granny]

Hi Keith
I must admit that I think most of the things I apply for in search of the family tree gives me good value as I experience the great highs and lows (four certificates before you find the correct one!!)

My worst "investment" was on a site that offered me a "lifetime" of lookups for a set fee.
After 2 lookups my mails were not replied to so the lookups cost me over £7 each!!

What was presented as a bargain.....wasn't!!
I am now a bit more cautious!
Sue

[drakes]

Keith,
   I would feel I got better value for my money if I could recycle those 'wrong family' certificates - yes, I do post them on the BMD exchange on rootschat, but so far they sit idly waiting - too bad there wasn't a better way to recyle them - perhaps the GRO would take them back? - for free, of course!!

   I quess it bothers me to thinks some one else may be shelling out money for the exact same cert. that I couldn't use!

drakes

[Darcy]

Hi Keith,

a number of years ago I paid for a census lookup in an attempt to find my great grandmother aged six. When the image arrived my great grandfather, aged 8, was living next door

That was real value for money

On the downside I spent a lot of time and money researching George Fisher of Pontefract Yorkshire when it should have been George Fisher of Deeping St James Lincolnshire.  

All the information regarding the Pontefract family is posted on RootsChat for free but, as yet, I have no takers. 


Regards
Darcy

[suttontrust]

The poor value for money is where you have to stump up a fee to join something before you can discover whether they've got anything of value to you.  This is happening now with local Family History societies.  I also carp about Family History Online where you can shell out to look at an entry but the information is useless because, e.g., it can only give you one person in a census and not the family.  Sometimes the best value is not the cheapest.  I've spent £30 or so a time on getting a professional to find military records and it's been worth every penny.

[MaryA]

Not directly in reply to the main question but, having read some of the answers it might be worth a rethink of my aversion to professional researchers, but I still think its a shame and spoils the fun.

Best bargain wasn't mine, it was the person who received it from me.  I ordered the certificate of what I thought was great grandfather, both first and middle name being right I thought it was a certainty, but when it arrived he was about 20 years too old.  When I went to the messageboards to offer it, there on the very top of the board, was a message from a searcher looking for this very man!!! How was that for coincidence. 

[trish251]

My Best buy was a NSW Death certificate transcription - $AU15 - gave where born, parents (Scotland) when, where married & to whom (Australia) when arrived in Oz and the name and age of 11 living children & the number of dead children (3).

My worst but was a NT (Aust) death certificate for $ 31 which said "There is no record of the death of this person". I had an Army record, last known address given as Darwin (1938)  & Death date on the file(1940). I guess he moved.

I also spend lots of cash at ScotlandsPeople and think it is  good value. My pet hate is 1837online - their indexes are rather pointless - unless you already know an exact date.

Trish

Trish

[MarieC]

What a great thread!!  Thanks, Keith!

I agree about the aversion to professional researchers, it may become necessary for me but I have had such fun following many trails (some of them dead ends) and meeting some lovely people along the way!  I will not use one until I am confident there is something to be found that can't be found from here.  I am aware of paying out a lot of money and getting nothing.

Best value of all, by a country mile, is Rootschat!  Only costs whatever one's ISP charges to get on the Net.  And I couldn't even begin to calculate the value of the help I have had and am still having, and the sheer joy of being a member of such a great community!

Other good value things for this Aussie.  The local U3A genealogy group.  Only costs the membership fee for U3A, very cheap, and I have had some great leads and a couple of bus trips to Brisbane with them.  And the local LDS centre.  Good resources, free and very helpful.  I now give them a donation every time I go because I can't in conscience keep using their resources for nothing.  

And the online pre-1858 will ordering service from the National Archives.  I have bought two wills.  One was short and not very informative but the other gave lots of terrific information that I wouldn't have got elsewhere (as well as some mysteries I am still trying to solve!)  Yes, it is the luck of the draw whether your money gets a short will or a long one.  

I agree about the "wrong" certificates - I would feel better if someone needed them!

I agree with Trish that NSW certificates are tremendous value, but not 1837online.  I also do not think that the National Archivist is worth the money for what you get.

MarieC

[Keith Sherwood]

Marie,
I couldn't agree more about what a wonderful idea Rootschat has become - everything else that one has to pay for is in stark contrast.  I don't know how much money we've all helped one another in saving, and since it's inception I've managed to push backwards along many of my family lines; and have got to know all kinds of good people on line.
All the posts here so far have been really interesting, I suppose the value of particular, special discoveries just cannot be measured in monetary terms.  I still think the wordy Wills at £5 a time are amazing value - hope they don't see this post and start charging by the page now...!
Keith