![Dual-tip brush markers, Faber-Castell pastel highlighters and white permanent markers from this read, in their own listing photographs on a colour-block banner]()
We read permanent markers, highlighters and document files on both marketplaces on the morning of 25 October 2026 — 41 listings from Amazon and 206 from Flipkart. It was the third pair of shelves we read that day.
On stationery Amazon is the inflated one, at a 2.87x median stated MRP against Flipkart's 2.10x. On medical devices, read the same morning, Amazon ran 1.88x and Flipkart 2.79x. Same two retailers, opposite result. The strike-through belongs to the aisle, not to the shop — so no rule of thumb survives the walk from one to the next.
📅 Update log:
25 Oct 2026: first published. All prices, stated MRPs, discount badges, star averages and rating counts read from amazon.in's and flipkart.com's own search results on 25 October 2026, logged out, from India, nothing purchased. Two Flipkart listings stating an MRP above eight times the selling price were excluded, leaving 206; no Amazon listing on this shelf exceeded that threshold. Flipkart rows were deduplicated on brand, price and product type. The cross-aisle comparison draws on two further reads from the same morning, both linked on this page. No matched-model price comparison was attempted.
We read permanent markers, highlighters and document files on both marketplaces on the morning of 25 October 2026 — 41 listings from Amazon and 206 from Flipkart. It is the third pair of shelves we read that morning, and the third to invert the one before it.
On stationery Amazon is the inflated shelf and Flipkart the restrained one — a median stated MRP of 2.87x the selling price against 2.10x. Three hours earlier, on home medical devices, the same two retailers were the other way round. Neither marketplace has a pricing posture; the category does.
Three aisles, one morning, no consistent retailer
This is the finding worth carrying away from all three reads. Each row is a separate pair of shelves read on 25 October 2026, with every figure computed over every listing in that read.
| Shelf | Retailer A | Median stated MRP | Median badge | Retailer B | Median stated MRP | Median badge |
|---|
| Kitchen tools — knife sets, boards, racks | Flipkart | 3.87x | 74% | Tata CLiQ | 1.43x | 30% |
| Home medical devices — oximeters, nebulizers, BP monitors | Amazon | 1.88x | 47% | Flipkart | 2.79x | 64% |
| Stationery — markers, highlighters, files | Amazon | 2.87x | 65% | Flipkart | 2.10x | 52% |
Read down the Amazon rows. On nebulizers and BP monitors Amazon's median stated MRP is 1.88x the price it charges — one of the most restrained shelves we have measured. On markers and highlighters the same retailer runs 2.87x. Flipkart swings further still: 3.87x in the kitchen, 2.10x on stationery. So "Amazon prices honestly" and "Flipkart inflates" are both wrong as general claims. Whatever sets the strike-through is operating per category — which means a shopper cannot carry a rule of thumb from one aisle to the next, and has to read the actual numbers on the shelf in front of them.
Sixteen list prices cover Amazon's entire stationery shelf
| Stated MRP | Listings | Share of the 41 |
|---|
| Rs. 999 | 8 | 19.5% |
| Rs. 799 | 6 | 14.6% |
| Rs. 499 | 6 | 14.6% |
| Rs. 599 | 4 | 9.8% |
| Rs. 150 | 4 | 9.8% |
| Those five combined | 28 | 68.3% |
There are only 16 distinct stated MRPs across the 41 Amazon listings, and five round numbers account for more than two-thirds of them. Flipkart's stationery shelf, by contrast, carries 68 distinct stated MRPs across 206 listings — roughly one per three listings, against Amazon's one per two and a half, but spread far more thinly across the range.
Where the claimed list price is a shared round number, the badge is arithmetic rather than information. A Rs. 180 marker set against a stated Rs. 999 displays 82%; a Rs. 300 one against the same Rs. 999 displays 70%. Neither percentage adds anything to the price.
The same highlighter, two badges, Rs. 3 apart
The clearest small illustration sits on the Flipkart shelf. LUXOR chisel tip highlighters appear twice: at Rs. 115 badged 18%, and at Rs. 118 badged 6%. Three rupees separate the prices and twelve badge points separate the percentages, because the two listings claim different list prices for what their own titles describe as the same kind of pen. The ratings differ too — 4.3 from 5,300 on one, 4.4 from 23,799 on the other — so these are genuinely two separate listings rather than a duplicate.
The cheaper one carries the deeper badge and the smaller review base. If you sorted by discount you would take the Rs. 115 listing with 5,300 ratings over the Rs. 118 one with 23,799.
Where the review evidence is
Flipkart's stationery shelf has the weakest review coverage of any shelf we read this morning. Only 118 of its 206 listings (57%) publish a star rating at all, and the median count among those is 72. Amazon publishes on 95% of its 41 listings with a median of 467. For comparison, Flipkart managed 82% coverage on its own kitchen shelf the same morning.
So the trade on this aisle is the familiar one in a new arrangement: Amazon gives you the review depth and the inflated strike-through; Flipkart gives you the more sober list price and far less evidence. On goods this cheap — medians of Rs. 180 and Rs. 230 — the review count is the only thing on the tile that distinguishes a usable marker from a dried-out one.
How we counted, and what we excluded
Every figure is the one each retailer's own search data serves, read 25 October 2026, logged out, from India, nothing purchased.
Exclusions. Two Flipkart listings whose stated MRP exceeded eight times the selling price were removed before counting, leaving 206; no Amazon listing on this shelf exceeded that threshold. Every median, count and range is computed over all 41 and all 206.
Flipkart's search returns the same listing under several keys; rows were deduplicated on brand, price and product type.
No matched-model comparison was attempted. The two catalogues overlap on some brands (LUXOR, Faber-Castell) but not reliably on the same pack sizes, and a marker set's price depends almost entirely on how many pens are in it. This page compares shelf behaviour, not the price of any one object.
The cross-aisle table draws on two other reads from the same morning: 190 Flipkart and 79 Tata CLiQ kitchen listings, and 82 Amazon and 200 Flipkart medical-device listings. Both are linked below.
The honest summary
The useful finding here is not about stationery. It is that the pricing posture you learned on one aisle does not transfer to the next. Amazon ran a 1.88x median stated MRP on medical devices and a 2.87x one on highlighters. Flipkart ran 3.87x in the kitchen and 2.10x on stationery. Three shelves, one morning, no retailer-level rule.
For markers and highlighters specifically: Flipkart's list prices are the more sober and Amazon's review base is far deeper. On a Rs. 200 pen set the review count is worth more than either percentage, and on Flipkart's shelf 43% of listings do not have one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Amazon or Flipkart cheaper for stationery?
Flipkart's list prices are the more honest of the two on this shelf, but we have not named a cheaper retailer for any specific item. Across the listings we read on 25 October 2026, Amazon's median stated MRP is 2.87x its selling price against Flipkart's 2.10x, and Amazon's median badge is 65% against 52% — so more of Amazon's discount is manufactured in the strike-through. The median selling prices are close: Rs. 180 on Amazon, Rs. 230 on Flipkart, which is well within the difference pack sizes make. We did not attempt a matched-model comparison, because a marker set's price depends almost entirely on how many pens are in the box and the two catalogues do not reliably carry the same pack sizes. Where Amazon clearly wins is evidence: it publishes a rating on 95% of listings with a median of 467, against Flipkart's 57% and 72.
Which marketplace inflates its MRPs more, Amazon or Flipkart?
Neither, consistently — and that is the finding. We read three pairs of shelves on the morning of 25 October 2026 and the answer changed every time. On kitchen tools, Flipkart's median stated MRP was 3.87x the selling price against Tata CLiQ's 1.43x. On home medical devices, Amazon was the restrained one at 1.88x against Flipkart's 2.79x. On stationery, Amazon was the inflated one at 2.87x against Flipkart's 2.10x. So Amazon runs one of the most sober shelves we have measured on nebulizers and one of the bolder ones on highlighters, and Flipkart swings from 3.87x to 2.10x depending on the aisle. Whatever sets the strike-through is operating per category — which means a rule of thumb learned on one shelf is worthless on the next, and the only reliable approach is to divide the stated MRP by the price on the shelf actually in front of you.
Why do so many Amazon stationery listings show Rs. 999 as the MRP?
Because an unusually small number of round list prices covers the whole shelf. There are only 16 distinct stated MRPs across the 41 Amazon listings we read, and five numbers account for more than two-thirds of them: Rs. 999 on 8 listings, Rs. 799 on 6, Rs. 499 on 6, Rs. 599 on 4 and Rs. 150 on 4 — 28 of 41 between them. Flipkart's shelf carries 68 distinct stated MRPs across 206 listings, spread far more thinly. When the claimed list price is a shared round number, the badge stops describing a discount and starts restating the price. A Rs. 180 marker set against a stated Rs. 999 displays 82%; a Rs. 300 one against the same Rs. 999 displays 70%. Neither figure adds anything to the price you can already see. Nothing here is improper — sellers set their own list prices — but on this shelf the percentage carries no information you do not already have.
Why does the same LUXOR highlighter show two different discounts on Flipkart?
Because the two listings claim different list prices for what their own titles describe as the same kind of pen. In our read, LUXOR chisel tip highlighters appear at Rs. 115 badged 18% and at Rs. 118 badged 6% — three rupees apart, twelve badge points apart. These are genuinely two separate listings rather than one duplicated: their review histories differ, at 4.3 stars from 5,300 ratings and 4.4 from 23,799. Note which way round it falls: the cheaper listing carries the deeper badge and the much smaller review base. Sorting this shelf by discount hands you the Rs. 115 tile with 5,300 ratings ahead of the Rs. 118 one with 23,799 — for a saving of three rupees. It is a small example of the general problem on both shelves: the badge ranks listings on the strike-through rather than on anything you would use the pen for.
Can you trust Flipkart stationery listings with no ratings?
You have no published evidence either way, and on this shelf that applies to 43% of what you are shown. Only 118 of the 206 Flipkart stationery listings we read publish a star rating at all, and among those the median count is just 72. Amazon publishes on 95% of its listings with a median of 467, and for comparison Flipkart itself managed 82% coverage on its kitchen shelf the same morning — so this is the weakest review coverage of any shelf we read that day. That matters more on cheap stationery than the price does. At a median of Rs. 230 the difference between a good purchase and a bad one is whether the markers write and keep writing, and nothing else on the tile speaks to that — not the brand, on a shelf full of unknown labels, and certainly not a badge built on a recycled list price. We bought and tested nothing, so we make no claim about any specific product. The practical advice is simply to treat a blank rating column as missing information rather than as neutral, and prefer a listing that has one.
Prices & codes last verified: October 25, 2026
All prices, stated MRPs, discount badges, star averages and rating counts on this page were read from amazon.in's and flipkart.com's own search results on 25 October 2026, logged out, from India. Nothing was purchased, opened or used, and no claim is made about ink quality, tip durability, dry-out, lightfastness, paper quality, binding strength, delivery, returns or after-sales service on either marketplace. Product descriptions, pack counts, tip sizes and brand claims are the listings' own printed words, reproduced and not independently verified. The two shelves are not the same goods and this page does not rank the retailers on price — a marker set's ticket depends almost entirely on how many pens are in the pack, the two catalogues do not reliably carry the same pack sizes, and no matched-model comparison was attempted; what is compared is shelf behaviour. A stated MRP is the figure a listing prints; we report it, divide by it and compare it, but nothing here asserts that any such figure is false or improper, and a round list price recurring across many unrelated sellers is reported as fact and not as allegation. Where two listings of one brand carry different badges, we report the published figures and the differing review counts that show them to be separate listings; nothing is alleged about either seller. Rating coverage figures describe whether a retailer publishes an average and a count; nothing here alleges that any review is fake, bought or improperly placed, nor have we read or assessed any individual review. The cross-aisle figures are drawn from two other reads conducted on the same morning and linked on this page, each computed over every listing in that read. Prices change without notice — check the live listing before buying. Zoutons may earn a commission on purchases made through links on this page, which never affects what we report.
Booking com 
Hostinger 
Dell 
Udemy 
Agoda 
Nykaa 
Myntra 
Ajio