I am a fan of occasionally selling items on eBay and like to have a permanent marker to write on padded envelopes/parcels when packaging items up to post to buyers. I purchased a pack of Sharpie permanent markers in Tesco for around £4. Included in this pack was 4 sharpie markers, one of each of the following colours: blue, black, red and green.

Sharpie pens are also available in twin packs of 2 black pens, and larger 12 or 24 packs which have a whole range of colours, although I'm not sure why anyone would need a yellow permanent pen!! A quick search online tells me that prices of these can really vary depending on where you buy them, so I think I will shop around before the next time I stock up! Sharpie also now make "mini sharpie" pens which seem to be the same as the standard pens but in a smaller size.

The pens are around the same length as a normal pen. The pens are grey in colour with the black sharpie logo printed on them. The lid colour corresponds to the colour of the pen inside. These pens are "fine point" permanent pens. Most other permanent pens I have used in the past tend to be thick and chunky, making it difficult to write neatly. As Sharpie pens are fine point I find I can write nearly with them even on small packages, and on larger packages my writing is still bold enough to read easily.

I have found that no matter what kind of paper/envelope I have used these Sharpie pens on there is no smudging or spreading of the ink. The ink dries quickly and lasts for a long time without fading. I have also used these pens on plastic envelopes and again the ink has not smudged or wiped off. I have owned my pack of Sharpie pens for over a year now and most frequently use the black pen. It is still going strong and has not dried up or run out yet, so I think I can conclude that the Sharpie markers last a long time.

Included in my pack of sharpie pens was a leaflet with some ideas for uses for the pens, this included writing names on labels and decorating shoes/clothes with them. I think they would definitely be useful for some of these purposes (maybe a yellow one would be useful after all...!). I'm sure kids could have plenty of fun with a pack of multi coloured sharpies but I would definitely recommend supervision as these really are a permanent pen.

All in all I am glad I discovered Sharpie pens and will definitely be replacing my pack when it finally runs out! Thanks for reading/rating.