Is my OPK dark enough?/and/or/does it matter??

Amber
I have never used opks before, this is my first month ever actively trying to conceive and I figured I would try them to see where everything lines up with my body.....but I didn't want to spend a ton of money so I just bought a cheap rite aid brand. 
Have taken three so far starting from cycle day 9 (I have a 26 day cycle, very regular) and they were all negative, I mean like completely blank white for the test area. Today I just took my fourth one and I finally have some color, but it's not quite as dark as the control, which I understand is supposed to be negative then.... but considering they have all been completely blank up until now I'm wondering if I should take it as "good enough"? Or will it get darker tomorrow? Anybody had a similar experience? Does it matter? How much do these opks really help? Glow is telling me today is peak day, but I don't even have ewcm yet either.... looking for advice/similar experiences? Thanks :)