black gel pens
Skip itBrand-locked demand (top 5 brands take 100% of clicks) — this niche doesn't clear our bar today.
Returns
Incredible0.2%return rate — above 5% kills the launch gate
Conversion
Great7.2%search→purchase rate — share of searches ending in a sale
Review moat
Okay2,697.94avg incumbent reviews — the moat a new listing must climb
Competition
Okay64%top-5 click share — leaders hold, buyers still browse
Quality gap
Okay4.6★avg incumbent rating — lower means beatable quality
Market size
Okay£116K£116K/yr · 216K searches
Avg price
Bad£7.43avg listing price — sweet spot $15–$100
Growth
Bad-15.6%90-day search growth — must beat 0% to launch
Price range
Bad£3.46–£15.23cheapest to priciest tracked listing — scored on the share inside $15–$100
Brand share
Bad100%top-5 brand share — brand-locked demand
According to Flapen's Amazon United Kingdom niche tracking, black gel pens is a £116K/yr Amazon United Kingdom market (216K searches/yr). The top 5 brands hold 100% of demand. Demand peaks in Jan. Verdict: Skip it — 35/100.
Data updated Jul 29, 2026 · scored weekly · How we score niches
black gel pens market data
- Units sold / yr
- 15K–20K
- avg 750–1,000/product
- Revenue / yr
- £111K–£149K
- units × avg price
- Conversion rate
- 7.2%
- Avg BSR
- #99
- Page quality
- 0%
- Prime
- 100%
- Sponsored
- 47%
- Out of stock
- 5.0%
- Avg brand age
- 48 months
- Avg seller age
- 162 days
Competition & brand share
The top 5 products take 64% of clicks — established leaders, but buyers still shop beyond them.Brands
3 falling
Sellers
165
Top-5 brand share
100%
Top 20: 100%
Top-5 click share
64%
Top 20: 100%
Open market
0%
- Sharpie46%
- Paper Mate45%
- JARDEN9%
- Open — no brand owns it (0%)
Demand & seasonality
Weekly Amazon search volume, last 104 weeks — -15.6% search growth over the last 90 days.Peak months: Jan · busiest ÷ quietest = 1.5×
Top black gel pens search terms
- papermate inkjoy61K/yr
- sharpie s gel39K/yr
- paper mate inkjoy pen22K/yr
- sharpie gel pens19K/yr
- papermate inkjoy 100 1.0m10K/yr
- sharpie s gel 0.7 black7K/yr
- inkjoy pens7K/yr
- 0.7mm pen6K/yr
- sharpie s gel pens5K/yr
- inkjoy6K/yr
Top black gel pens 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.
All 17 tracked products in this niche — three views at once, no toggling.
Top sellers
by 90-day click share
Sharpie S-Gel | Gel Pens | Medium Point (0.7mm) | Black Ink | 3 Count
Sharpie£3.784.5★4,583 rev
Paper Mate InkJoy 100ST Ballpoint Pens | Fine Point (0.7mm) | Black | 5 Count
Paper Mate£3.754.6★5,732 rev
Paper Mate InkJoy 100ST Ballpoint Pens | Medium Point (1.0mm) | Black | 50 Count
Paper Mate£8.344.7★3,477 rev
Paper Mate InkJoy 100ST Ballpoint Pens | Medium Point (1.0mm) | Fun Colours | 10 Count
Paper Mate£3.464.7★7,485 rev
Paper Mate Inkjoy 100 Ballpoint Stick Pen Medium Point Black 12 Pack
JARDEN£5.064.7★148 rev
Newest
by launch date
Sharpie S-Gel | Gel Pens for Writing | Medium Point (0.7mm) | Assorted Ink Colours | White Pearl Barrels | 12 Count
Sharpie£9.701,596 rev
Sharpie S-Gel | Gel Pens | Medium Point (0.7mm) | Assorted Ink Colours | 8 Count
Sharpie£10.38298 rev
Sharpie S-Gel Pens | Fine Point 0.5mm | Black Ink | Pack of 4 | Retractable Gel Pens | Comfort Grip
Sharpie£7.30100 rev
Sharpie S-Gel Pens | Medium Point 0.7mm | Black Ink | Pack of 10 | Metal Barrel Retractable Gel Pens | Rose Gold
Sharpie£11.7723 rev
Paper Mate Inkjoy 100 Ballpoint Stick Pen Medium Point Black 12 Pack
JARDEN£5.06148 rev
Trending
90-day click momentum
Sharpie S-Gel | Gel Pens | Medium Point (0.7mm) | Frost Blue & White Pearl Barrels | Black & Blue Ink | 4 Count
Sharpie£4.204.2★
Sharpie S-Gel | Gel Pens for Writing | Medium Point (0.7mm) | Assorted Ink Colours | White Pearl Barrels | 12 Count
Sharpie£9.704.6★
Sharpie S-Gel Pens | Medium Point 0.7mm | Black Ink | Pack of 10 | Metal Barrel Retractable Gel Pens | Rose Gold
Sharpie£11.774.7★
Paper Mate InkJoy 100ST Ballpoint Pens | Medium Point (1.0mm) | Fun Colours | 10 Count
Paper Mate£3.464.7★
Paper Mate InkJoy 100ST Ballpoint Pens | Medium Point (1.0mm) | Black | 50 Count
Paper Mate£8.344.7★
What buyers say about black gel pens
What buyers praise and complain about, mined from review topics.What buyers love
“Smooth writing and look great”
“Good value”
“Great quality pens”
“Great pens”
“verry good ink”
“Quality Pens”
“Good to use”
“But I dont regret buying it as its durability”
“All the other colours are nice and different”
“it does not smudge or leak through pages”
What buyers complain about
“Dry ink”
“The ink flow is inconsistent”
“They dont work”
“Very poor performance”
“so they dont write smoothly at all”
“these pens were awful, very scratchy and poor/inconsistent ink flow”
“Waste of money”
“Fully dry”
“however one of the pens barely lasted two weeks which was disappointing”
“Not easy to use, takes a while to get them going, and dont flow”
Top return reasons
Common questions
- Is black gel pens profitable to sell on Amazon United Kingdom?
- The niche generates £116K/yr across 17 tracked products. 90-day search growth is -15.6%. Flapen's verdict: Skip it (35/100).
- How competitive is the black gel pens niche?
- 3 brands and 165 sellers compete. The top 5 products take 64% of clicks and top 5 brands hold 100% of demand.
- What do buyers complain about in black gel pens?
- Top complaints mined from reviews: Dry/Empty Ink, Ink Leakage, Functionality-Overall. The return rate is 0.2%.
- When does demand for black gel pens peak?
- Demand peaks in Jan; the busiest month runs 1.5× the quietest.
- What does it cost to enter the black gel pens niche?
- Listings span £3.46–£15.23; the average listing price is £7.43 (sweet spot $15–$100). The average incumbent carries 2,698 reviews — the moat a new listing must climb.