Is 500gb external hard drive profitable to sell on Amazon United Kingdom?

The niche generates £139K/yr across 11 tracked products. 90-day search growth is -11.8%. Flapen's verdict: Skip it (43/100).

How competitive is the 500gb external hard drive niche?

9 brands and 16 sellers compete. The top 5 products take 84% of clicks and top 5 brands hold 88% of demand.

What do buyers complain about in 500gb external hard drive?

Top complaints mined from reviews: Functionality-Overall, Compatibility-Overall, Durability. The return rate is 1.9%.

When does demand for 500gb external hard drive peak?

Demand peaks in Nov; the busiest month runs 2.4× the quietest.

What does it cost to enter the 500gb external hard drive niche?

Listings span £18.74–£50.72; the average listing price is £25.91 (sweet spot $15–$100). The average incumbent carries 42,668 reviews — the moat a new listing must climb.

500gb external hard drive

Skip it

A deep review moat (42,668 avg reviews) — this niche doesn't clear our bar today.

Avg price

Incredible£25.91

avg listing price — sweet spot $15–$100

Price range

Incredible£18.74–£50.72

cheapest to priciest tracked listing — scored on the share inside $15–$100

Returns

Great1.9%

return rate — above 5% kills the launch gate

Quality gap

Good4.3★

avg incumbent rating — lower means beatable quality

Conversion

Good5.2%

search→purchase rate — share of searches ending in a sale

Market size

Okay£139K

£139K/yr · 104K searches

Brand share

Okay88%

top-5 brand share — brands hold most of the demand

Growth

Bad-11.8%

90-day search growth — must beat 0% to launch

Competition

Bad84%

top-5 click share — a locked-up shelf

Review moat

Bad42,668.36

avg incumbent reviews — the moat a new listing must climb

According to Flapen's Amazon United Kingdom niche tracking, 500gb external hard drive is a £139K/yr Amazon United Kingdom market (104K searches/yr). The top 5 brands hold 88% of demand. Demand peaks in Nov. Verdict: Skip it — 43/100.

Data updated Jul 21, 2026 · scored weekly · How we score niches

500gb external hard drive market data

Units sold / yr: 5K–6K; avg 500–750/product
Revenue / yr: £130K–£155K; units × avg price
Conversion rate: 5.2%
Avg BSR: #11
Page quality: 0%
Prime: 100%
Sponsored: 73%
Out of stock: 2.3%
Avg brand age: 65 months
Avg seller age: 177 days

Competition & brand share

The top 5 products capture 84% of clicks — a locked-up shelf that new listings rarely crack.

Brands

9 falling

Sellers

Top-5 brand share

88%

Top 20: 100%

Top-5 click share

84%

Top 20: 100%

Open market

UnionSine37%
ModusTech23%
ezekers11%
Meyritech10%
Sonnics7%
Maxone4%
Open — no brand owns it (3 brands, 8%)

Demand & seasonality

Weekly Amazon search volume, last 103 weeks — -11.8% search growth over the last 90 days.

Peak months: Nov · busiest ÷ quietest = 2.4×

Open Trend

Top 500gb external hard drive search terms

500gb external hard drive33K/yr -9.3%4.8% conv.
external hard drive 500gb25K/yr -13.1%4.2% conv.
500gb hard drive14K/yr -13.3%2.3% conv.
hard drive 500gb10K/yr -9.5%5.3% conv.
500gb7K/yr -43.2%0.8% conv.
500 gb external hard drive7K/yr -1.4%4.9% conv.
portable hard drive 500gb5K/yr +18.8%3.9% conv.
500gb portable hard drive4K/yr +11.3%2.0% conv.

All search terms

Top 500gb external hard drive products on Amazon

Each bubble is one product — market share against review moat; bubble size tracks estimated sales, color grades how beatable the incumbent looks.

Beatable (≤4.3★) Contested Strong incumbent (>4.7★)

All 11 tracked products in this niche — three views at once, no toggling.

Top sellers

by 90-day click share

UnionSine External Hard Drive 500GB Ultra Slim Portable Hard Drive USB 3.0 HDD Storage Compatible for PC Mac Laptop Xbox Xbox one PS4(Black)

UnionSine£23.114.4★51,194 rev

ModusTech Facet 500GB External Hard Drive Portable USB-C/USB 3.1 Plug & Play Ultra-Slim HDD Hard drive for Backup Gaming PC Mac Laptop PS4 Xbox Smart TV (Black)

ModusTech£20.024.1★2,584 rev

Ezekers 500GB USB 3.0 USB C External Hard Drive Ultra Fast & Slim Portable HDD Storage for PC MacBook Laptop Xbox One and PS4 Black

ezekers£20.174.0★496 rev

Meyritech 500GB External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 Type-C 500GB Hard Drive for Portable External Data Storage Macbook iMacs PCs Laptops Xbox One & PS4 Consoles

Meyritech£18.744.3★1,701 rev

Sonnics 500GB Dark Grey External Portable Hard drive USB 3.0 super fast transfer speed for use with Windows PC Apple Mac Smart tv XBOX ONE & PS4

Sonnics£20.944.3★9,012 rev

Newest

by launch date

Ezekers 500GB USB 3.0 USB C External Hard Drive Ultra Fast & Slim Portable HDD Storage for PC MacBook Laptop Xbox One and PS4 Black

ezekers£20.17496 rev

1y ago

ModusTech Facet 500GB External Hard Drive Portable USB-C/USB 3.1 Plug & Play Ultra-Slim HDD Hard drive for Backup Gaming PC Mac Laptop PS4 Xbox Smart TV (Black)

ModusTech£20.022,584 rev

1y ago

Aiolo Innovation 500GB Ultra Slim Portable External Hard Drive HDD-USB 3.0 for PC Mac Laptop PS4 Xbox one Xbox 363-Super Fast Transmission

Aiolo Innovation£22.034,407 rev

2y ago

Toshiba Canvio Partner 1TB Portable 2.5 External Hard Drive USB 3.2 Mac & Windows compatible. (HDTB510EK3AB)

Toshiba£45.1512,239 rev

3y ago

Meyritech 500GB External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 Type-C 500GB Hard Drive for Portable External Data Storage Macbook iMacs PCs Laptops Xbox One & PS4 Consoles

Meyritech£18.741,701 rev

4y ago

What buyers say about 500gb external hard drive

What buyers praise and complain about, mined from review topics.

What buyers love

Value For Money18%

“Good value for money”

Quality-Overall13%

“The build quality feels solid and reliable, especially for the price”

Advertised Vs Actual Product10%

“Product matches description”

Storage Capacity10%

“is perfect for extra storage”

Data Transfer Speed10%

“Easy access and transfer”

Ease Of Use9%

“Very easy to use”

Compatibility-Overall4%

“I also like that its compatible with multiple devices like PC, Mac, PS4, and Xbox, which makes it very convenient”

Functionality-Overall3%

“Works”

Assembly/Installation3%

“Setup was simple — just plug and play”

Portability3%

“A nice looking compact unit that's easy to carry around”

What buyers complain about

Functionality-Overall17%

“The drive has stopped working”

Compatibility-Overall15%

“Not compatible”

Durability13%

“and its physically broken”

Connectivity-Overall11%

“constantly disconnects”

Quality-Overall6%

“The unit is not that well made”

Value For Money4%

“At this price I wasn't expecting much”

Noise Level4%

“it makes a clicking noise”

Advertised Vs Actual Product4%

“I think this is false advertising”

Storage Capacity4%

“missed the one about the drive actually being 465gb capacity”

Defective Material/Parts3%

“the hard drive has a crack on the top”

Top return reasons

Compatibility-Overall33%

Functionality-Overall21%

Connectivity-Overall15%

Defective Material/Parts5%

Storage Capacity4%

Size-Overall3%

Noise Level3%

Socket/Port/Plug3%

Constant Reboot Or Restart2%

Data Transfer Speed2%

Common questions

Is 500gb external hard drive profitable to sell on Amazon United Kingdom?: The niche generates £139K/yr across 11 tracked products. 90-day search growth is -11.8%. Flapen's verdict: Skip it (43/100).
How competitive is the 500gb external hard drive niche?: 9 brands and 16 sellers compete. The top 5 products take 84% of clicks and top 5 brands hold 88% of demand.
What do buyers complain about in 500gb external hard drive?: Top complaints mined from reviews: Functionality-Overall, Compatibility-Overall, Durability. The return rate is 1.9%.
When does demand for 500gb external hard drive peak?: Demand peaks in Nov; the busiest month runs 2.4× the quietest.
What does it cost to enter the 500gb external hard drive niche?: Listings span £18.74–£50.72; the average listing price is £25.91 (sweet spot $15–$100). The average incumbent carries 42,668 reviews — the moat a new listing must climb.