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Fountain Pen

Fail

Demand is soft, at -18.4% this quarter, so Fountain Pen is a Fail.

Flapen Score
45
45 / 100
Ranks 455 of 835 Stationery & Office Supplies niches · −2 vs the category median of 47
Market size
£379K/yr1.3M searches / yr
90-day growth
-18.4%search demand this quarter
Competition
56%top-5 click share · 11 brands · 89 sellers

Flapen Score

Fountain Pen against its category

The dotted line is the Stationery & Office Supplies average. Past it, Fountain Pen is stronger. Inside it, weaker.

45Fail
Big MarketTrendingHigh ConversionOpen MarketLow ReturnsPrice rangeAvg priceNo Dominant BrandLow Review BarrierQuality Gap
This niche Category average

Market

The Fountain Pen market on Amazon at a glance

Shoppers on Amazon United Kingdom searched for Fountain Pen 1.3M times last year and spent an estimated £379K. The top 5 brands take 88% of clicks. Demand peaks in Dec. Flapen scores it 45 out of 100, a Fail.

01 · Demand

2.2% of searches ended in a purchase last week.

Shoppers searched for this 1.3M times in the last 12 months. That counts every search on Amazon United Kingdom for this niche's terms. In the latest week, 2.2% of those searches ended in a purchase. Searches in the last 90 days moved -18.4% against the 90 days before. Searches, conversion and average price together put the market at an estimated £379K a year.

Searches, last 12 months
1.3M
Growth, 90 days vs prior 90
-18.4%
Conversion, latest week
2.2%
Market size, estimated
£379Ka year
Peak month
December2.0× the quietest month
Top search term
fountain pen676K searches a year

02 · Price

A sale here is worth £13.08.

Listings sell for £13.08 on average, from £4.69 to £36.06. Amazon reports units sold in ranges. This niche sold 25K to 30K a year. The average listing sells 750 to 1,000 of them. At £13.08 that is £10K to £13K a year per listing.

Average price
£13.08under the $15 to $100 sweet spot
Price range
£4.69–£36.06
Amazon United Kingdom median price
£12.12across 27,606 niches
Units sold a year
25K–30K
Units per listing a year
750–1,000
Revenue per listing a year
£10K–£13K
Returns
0.7%of orders · Amazon United Kingdom median 0.6%

03 · Entry bar

The bar here is reviews.

72% of listings pay for placement with sponsored ads. 96% ship with Prime. On an average day, 0.2% of listings are out of stock. The average listing ranks #19 within Pens, Pencils & Writing Supplies. It carries 4,708 reviews at 4.48 stars, so a new listing needs social proof before a better product.

Sponsored listings
72%
Prime listings
96%
Out of stock, average day
0.2%
Average rank
#19in Pens, Pencils & Writing Supplies
Average rating
4.48 starsAmazon United Kingdom average 4.36 stars
Average reviews
4,708per listing
Listings tracked
25

04 · Newcomers

Brands here are settling in.

The brands on the shelf have sold for 59 months on average, so the names here are settling in.

Launched, last 12 months
0
Successful launches
0Amazon's first-year sales bar
Average brand age
59 months

Products

Top Fountain Pen products & what they sell for

Every tracked product: its share of the shelf, its reviews, and its price.

Competition

Competition: brands, sellers & click share

The top 5 products take 56% of clicks. Leaders hold, but buyers still shop past them.

£0£38K£76K£114K£152K1001K10K100K Review Count Sales
Beatable (≤4.3★) Contested Strong incumbent (>4.7★)

Brands

11 falling

Sellers

89

Top-5 brand share

88%

Top 20: 100%

Top-5 click share

56%

Top 20: 94%

Open market

8%

  • Lamy35%
  • PARKER34%
  • TIESOME8%
  • EYEYE6%
  • Cobee6%
  • BOCIYER4%
  • Open — no brand owns it (5 brands, 8%)

Demand

Fountain Pen search demand

Weekly searches over the year, seasonality beneath. Pick a range.

35K25KSpike '24Holiday '24Prime Day '25Spike '25Black Friday '25Holiday '25SepDecMarJunAugNovMarMay

Peak months: Dec · busiest ÷ quietest = 2.0×

Search terms

Top Fountain Pen search terms shoppers use

The exact words shoppers type, with yearly volume, growth, and conversion.

  • fountain pen676K/yr
  • parker fountain pen134K/yr
  • lamy fountain pen105K/yr
  • fountain pens82K/yr
  • pilot fountain pen32K/yr
  • lamy38K/yr
  • lamy pen38K/yr
  • lamy safari fountain pen36K/yr
  • fountain pens for writing62K/yr
  • lamy safari29K/yr

Reviews and returns

What reviews say buyers love and hate about Fountain Pen

What buyers praise, what they complain about and why they send it back, from the reviews.

Complain

Nib/Tip Quality9%−0.02

the nib itself is so scratchy

the quality of the nib is poor

the ink might not flow to the nib properly

Value For Money6%+0.12

A waste of money

which was from another more expensive category

Feels overpriced

Quality-Overall6%

Cheap quality

The quality control is poor

Quality is terrible

Ink Leakage6%−0.05

Poor ink flow/ breaks writing

Ink everywhere as ink cartridge supplied was also cheap

So bad the ink

Durability5%

They won't last forever

it fell apart in my hands

Not had it 20 minutes and already broken

Love

Writing Experience22%+2.10

Smooth writing

Excellent Writing with this pen

writes well

Quality-Overall11%

This is a good quality well built fountain pen

seems well made

Excellent quality

Value For Money11%+0.12

Great value

Good Value

Great value for money

Nib/Tip Quality6%−0.02

fine nib

Surprisingly smooth nib though

Excellent nib

Comfort-Overall5%+0.88

comfortable

Comfortable to write with

really comfortable to hold

Return

0.7% Return rate 11% Fixable by listing

Ink Refill18%▁▆█▇▇▅
Nib/Tip Quality14%▄▄▅█▆▅

the nib itself is so scratchy

the quality of the nib is poor

the ink might not flow to the nib properly

Functionality-Overall10%█▃▄▂▃▄

Doesnt work

Pen doesnt work

That one didn't work either

Writing Experience7%▆▄█▆▅▂

unbalanced for comfortable writing

writes terribly

one of the worst I've ever written with

Quality-Overall5%▁█▃▂▄▁

Cheap quality

The quality control is poor

Quality is terrible

FAQ

Common Fountain Pen questions

Answered from the same tracked data.