Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight and Call of Duty make Amazon's all-time bestsellers list

As do an 8GB memory card and HDMI connector cables

Adam Sherwin
Monday 14 October 2013 17:57 BST
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Products in the Harry Potter franchise have been big sellers on Amazon
Products in the Harry Potter franchise have been big sellers on Amazon

Its swift-delivery service has shipped millions of Harry Potter novels and Adele CDs since its launch 15 years ago. But it is actually the 8GB memory card and HDMI connector cables which have made Amazon a $120 billion business, the online retailer revealed.

To mark its 15th anniversary, Amazon.co.uk published a list of the most popular products since its arrival first sent shudders through high-street stores.

Amazon's best-selling products of all time include the Call Of Duty video game franchise, J.K. Rowling's Potter novels and the erotic Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

Kindle readers and the Just Dance Nintendo Wii game are also in the top ten. However it is the staple devices of the modern digital home which keep Amazon ticking over.

Outperforming Adele in the Top Ten best-seller list are Wired-up HDMI to HDMI Gold Plated Connectors (still in stock at £1.26), "perfect for both high-definition video and standard video formats".

Pre-release orders for One Direction's new Midnight Memories album have made it the fastest-seller of all time but the boyband have yet to out-perform sales of the SanDisk 8 GB Memory Card in Frustration Free Packaging (£5.49).

Amazon has quietly helped curate the cult of Bananagrams, the game where players have to build a crossword against the clock, which has beaten many family favourites to become its most popular toy of all time.

The game only made its debut at a toy fair in 2006 but has since built up a quiet and global fan base. The cast of Downton Abbey admitted they became hooked on the game during breaks on set.

Abraham Nathanson invented it in the US because he was frustrated at the slow pace when playing Scrabble.

Bananagrams outsold the Original Rubik's Cube, still in second place after 30 years and traditional games like Scrabble and Monopoly.

Victoria Nelson, manager of Amazon Toys, said: "At a time when interactive and electronic toys are becoming more advanced, our best-sellers chart shows that traditional family favourites still have a place in Britain’s toy boxes."

Adele was named the best-selling artist with her 19 and 21 albums the top two best-selling albums of the past 15 years.

Call Of Duty dominated the top three places in the video games chart with E.L. James matching that feat in the books list for her 50 Shades trilogy.

Darren Hardy, Books Manager at Amazon.co.uk, said: "Sales of Kindle books have been hugely influential in determining these rankings, with E.L. James' sales on Kindle for the 50 Shades Trilogy cementing her place as our most successful author ever."

Amazon launched in 1994, selling only books at first. It started trading in Britain in 1998.

Amazon claims to sell more than 100 million products on its British site and employs more than 6,000 staff. However it faced controversy following the revelation in May that it paid just £3.2 million in corporation tax on £4 billion worth of sales last year.

The company said the best-sellers list "tells a story of the major trends that have gripped Britain" over the past 15 years.

Bestselling products of all time on Amazon.co.uk (in alphabetical order)

Call of Duty franchise

Fifty Shades Trilogy

Harry Potter

Hunger Games Trilogy

Just Dance franchise (Wii)

Kindle devices

Millennium Trilogy

SANDISK 8 GB Memory Card in Frustration Free Packaging

Twilight Saga

Wired-up HDMI to HDMI Gold Plated Connectors

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