Sherwin Williams will make up a test quart for about $6-8, I believe.

I seem to remember glidden also selling small, Benjamin moore sized test pods

Lowes and Home Depot both sell the small sampler jars. I think they are $2.99 or $3.99.

Not that you are planning to do this, but paint people from SW and BM have always told me that their sample sizes are 'not real paint' and that one shouldn't use them for painting, other than to test the color. I know in SW it's tempting to use the To Go quarts, and in BM the pint Color Sample cans. I was using a deep blue to paint a bureau, and the BM guy convinced me to go with the 'real thing' rather than try to save money.

They tell you not to, but I used paint from a Ben Moore sample jar on a bathroom wall over a year ago and it is holding up fine. Painting furniture with it, though, is a different matter.

I got one at Lowe's yesterday. They mixed a sample to match Pratt and Lambert's Ceylon Ivory. $3.

Farrow and Ball has test pots too.

I just recently asked my SW/MAB paint guy about this. He said that the To Go quarts are not paint but were formulated more like primer? I took a couple To Go quarts and a quart of paint to him to potentially "muddy up" for a piece of furniture I wanted to paint. He told me not to use the To Go quarts as they were paint, but to use the actual paint (of which he tweaked for free-gotta love that guy!)

Oh, no!

Thank you for telling me that they really shouldn't be used for painting a wall -- for some areas, I do want to do test-colors (I put them on artists canvases so I can move them around the rooms to see how they look in different light).

But I do have to touch up some places in the house (like in a stairway), and I thought I could use the test pots, in this case, a Benjamin Moore color. Maybe I'll try it in an inconspicuous place first ...?

Just clarified with my daughter what the SW guy told us. She said he said that you could use it as a topcoat, but it is not washable or durable, that it was thinner than paint.

I've used both BM and SW 1 qt test pots and they are for color purposes only, not to be used as regular paint. The finish is very shiny and not like real paint at all and not meant to be. If you used them for touchup the finish would not be the same at all.

SW Color to Go Jugs have zero performance properties. That's why they can sell it for $5.

I have an infographic of all the brands and what they offer for sampling - is it *real* paint or not, pricing, quantity, sheens offered, etc.