How Much Are Diabetic Test Strips Actually Worth?

Per box, by brand, with the reasoning — including the brands that are worth almost nothing.

The short answer

Four things set the number: brand, box size, how much time is left on the expiration date, and whether the seal is intact. Name brands — OneTouch, Accu-Chek, FreeStyle, Contour Next — are worth several times what store brands like True Metrix and ReliOn are worth, because they retail for several times as much. CGM sensors and insulin pump supplies are worth far more per unit than any finger-stick strip. We pay top dollar against all of it, quoted per box from a photo so the number is firm before anyone drives anywhere.

Why brand matters more than count

Resale value tracks retail price, not the number of strips in the box. A hundred True Metrix strips and a hundred OneTouch strips do the same job, but one retails at a fraction of the other, so one resells at a fraction of the other. Anyone quoting you the same price per box across all brands has not looked at what you have.

What changes the number

• Expiration date. Unexpired. Once the date passes, the box cannot be resold.
• Seal. Opened is worth nothing, in every brand.
• Packaging. Retail carton full price; pharmacy-dispensed container, unsellable.
• Volume. Larger lots occasionally earn a little more per box because the pickup cost is spread further.

Local buyer versus national mail-in

National mail-in buyers sometimes beat a local price by a dollar or two on a single box, because their volume is higher. What they cannot do is pay you today without you packing or shipping anything, and their minimum-order thresholds mean small lots often are not worth sending at all. On a six-box lot the difference is marginal, and it costs you a week of waiting.

Beware the quote that shrinks

The standard complaint in this category is a high phone quote that gets revised downward once the buyer is standing in your driveway. Ask for the quote in writing, itemized per box, before anyone drives anywhere. Any buyer unwilling to do that is telling you something.

See the full published price list

What the record shows

Everything below is quoted or drawn from a primary source, linked so you can check it yourself rather than take our word for it. Full list on our sources and regulations page.

• “In 2022, diabetes and its related complications accounted for $413 billion in total (direct and indirect) medical costs and lost wages in the United States.”

  — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, $413 Billion in Diabetes Costs, 2022.

• “Approximately 953,887 people in Georgia, or 11.4% of the adult population, have diagnosed diabetes.”

  A further 2,674,000 Georgians — 33.7% of adults — have prediabetes, and diagnosed diabetes costs an estimated $11 billion in Georgia each year.

  — American Diabetes Association, The Burden of Diabetes in Georgia, 2023.

• Local reporting has documented an active secondary market in diabetic testing supplies across metro Atlanta, operating with little regulation and wide variation in what buyers pay.

  — Atlanta News First, Inside the booming underground economy of diabetic testing supplies, 2023.

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