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Pencils

Maybe

Returns run at only 0.1% of orders. But prices span $0.89–$14.92, mostly outside the sweet spot, so Pencils is a Maybe.

Flapen Score
52
52 / 100
Top 28% of 835 Stationery & Office Supplies niches · +5 vs the category median of 47
Market size
£774K/yr1.7M searches / yr
90-day growth
+19.8%search demand this quarter
Competition
55%top-5 click share · 16 brands · 100 sellers

Flapen Score

Pencils against its category

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

52Maybe
Big MarketTrendingHigh ConversionOpen MarketLow ReturnsPrice rangeAvg priceNo Dominant BrandLow Review BarrierQuality Gap
This niche Category average

Market

The Pencils market on Amazon at a glance

Shoppers on Amazon United Kingdom searched for Pencils 1.7M times last year and spent an estimated £774K. The top 5 brands take 82% of clicks. Demand peaks in Aug–Sep. Flapen scores it 52 out of 100, a Maybe.

01 · Demand

10.6% of searches ended in a purchase last week.

Shoppers searched for this 1.7M times in the last 12 months. That counts every search on Amazon United Kingdom for this niche's terms. In the latest week, 10.6% of those searches ended in a purchase. Searches in the last 90 days moved +19.8% against the 90 days before. Searches, conversion and average price together put the market at an estimated £774K a year.

Searches, last 12 months
1.7M
Growth, 90 days vs prior 90
+19.8%
Conversion, latest week
10.6%
Market size, estimated
£774Ka year
Peak month
August2.5× the quietest month
Top search term
pencils923K searches a year

02 · Price

A sale here is worth £4.31.

Listings sell for £4.31 on average, from £0.89 to £14.92. Amazon reports units sold in ranges. This niche sold 200K to 250K a year. The average listing sells 6,000 to 8,000 of them. At £4.31 that is £26K to £34K a year per listing.

Average price
£4.31under the $15 to $100 sweet spot
Price range
£0.89–£14.92
Amazon United Kingdom median price
£12.12across 27,606 niches
Units sold a year
200K–250K
Units per listing a year
6,000–8,000
Revenue per listing a year
£26K–£34K
Returns
0.1%of orders · Amazon United Kingdom median 0.6%

03 · Entry bar

The bar here is reviews.

73% of listings pay for placement with sponsored ads. 96% ship with Prime. On an average day, 0.0% of listings are out of stock. The average listing ranks #20 within Pens, Pencils & Writing Supplies. It carries 9,778 reviews at 4.65 stars, so a new listing needs social proof before a better product.

Sponsored listings
73%
Prime listings
96%
Out of stock, average day
0.0%
Average rank
#20in Pens, Pencils & Writing Supplies
Average rating
4.65 starsAmazon United Kingdom average 4.36 stars
Average reviews
9,778per listing
Listings tracked
26

04 · Newcomers

Brands here are settling in.

The brands on the shelf have sold for 48 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
48 months

Products

Top Pencils 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 55% of clicks. Leaders hold, but buyers still shop past them.

£0£31K£62K£93K£124K101001K10K100K1.0M Review Count Sales
Beatable (≤4.3★) Contested Strong incumbent (>4.7★)

Brands

16 flat

Sellers

100

Top-5 brand share

82%

Top 20: 100%

Top-5 click share

55%

Top 20: 94%

Open market

15%

  • STAEDTLER42%
  • Amazon Basics17%
  • Helix16%
  • Q-Connect4%
  • BIC EVOLUTION4%
  • Drawlish3%
  • Open — no brand owns it (10 brands, 15%)

Demand

Pencils search demand

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

90K70KSpike '24Spike '25Prime Day '25Spike '26SepDecMarJunAugNovMarMay

Peak months: Aug, Sep · busiest ÷ quietest = 2.5×

Search terms

Top Pencils search terms shoppers use

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

  • pencils923K/yr
  • pencil307K/yr
  • hb pencils112K/yr
  • pencils with rubbers on the end93K/yr
  • staedtler pencils50K/yr
  • school pencils23K/yr
  • hb pencils with rubber23K/yr
  • writing pencils18K/yr
  • pencils for school26K/yr
  • hb pencil14K/yr

Reviews and returns

What reviews say buyers love and hate about Pencils

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

Complain

Quality-Overall17%−0.01

Poor quality

Not really the best

Its not fancy art-store quality

Sharpness17%−0.08

when sharpen led breaks straight away

Pencils are really hard to sharpen

Weren't sharpened when recieved

Durability10%−0.03

Break easily unfortunately

The lead just continually breaks

Pencils fine. Rubbers fell off on a couple

Erasability10%−0.03

Erasers always falls off

Eraser tops fell off after one use

The erasers wobble

Value For Money6%+0.96

Cheap

Doubt that price can be bettered

Absolute waste of money

Love

Quality-Overall20%−0.01

It is of excellent quality and excellent timeing

Excellent Product

Good quality pencils

Pen/Pencil Quality19%+1.36

Great pencils

Super pencils

Great pencils

Value For Money16%+0.96

Worth the money

Excellent value for money

Good price

Advertised Vs Actual Product7%+0.71

As advertised

As described

Did the job

Writing Experience6%+0.32

are great for everyday writing or schoolwork

The pencils write smoothly

Lovely to write with

Return

0.1% Return rate 20% Fixable by listing

Quality-Overall14%▆▁▁█▁▁

Poor quality

Not really the best

Its not fancy art-store quality

Value For Money12%▁▁█▁▁▁

Cheap

Doubt that price can be bettered

Absolute waste of money

Size-Overall10%▁█▃▅▁▁
Adhesion/Stickiness9%▁▁█▁▁▁
Product Condition7%▁▆▁▁▁█

FAQ

Common Pencils questions

Answered from the same tracked data.