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Break-even ROAS calculator

Find the ROAS your ads need to pay for themselves, and the ROAS you need to keep a profit. Enter the numbers for an average order. Results update as you type, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Your numbers, per order

What a customer pays per order, after discounts.

Costs for each order

What the products in one order cost you, landed: freight and import duties included.

What you pay to pick, pack and ship one order.

Payment fees

Card processing for one order, often around 2.9% + $0.30.

The share of revenue you refund, on average.

Anything else you pay for every order: apps billed per order, inserts, gifts.

Your break-even ROAS

2.39×

Below 2.39×, every order from ads loses money. Above it, ads make you a profit.

  • Product cost $35.00 35.0%
  • Shipping & fulfillment $15.00 15.0%
  • Payment fees $3.20 3.2%
  • Returns & refunds $5.00 5.0%
  • Left for ads and profit $41.80 41.8%

For your whole store, this is also your break-even MER: total revenue ÷ total marketing spend.

15%

After paying for ads, as a share of revenue.

You need a 3.73× ROAS to keep 15% as profit.

Most you can pay in ads per order
To break even
$41.80
For a 15% profit
$26.80

The ROAS your ads report, from Ads Manager or Google Ads.

At 3.00×, you keep $8.47 per order, or $254 for every $1,000 you spend on ads. That's a POAS of 1.25.

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THE FORMULA

How to work out break-even ROAS

Break-even ROAS is the return on ad spend at which your ads exactly pay for themselves. Every order still costs you the product, shipping, fees and refunds, and what's left has to cover the ads that won it. Below your break-even ROAS, each sale from ads loses money. Above it, you make a profit.

Break-even ROAS = average order value ÷ profit per order before ads
Target ROAS = 1 ÷ (margin before ads − the profit margin you want)
Worked example

The numbers already in the calculator above.

Average order value
$100.00
Product cost
−$35.00
Shipping & fulfillment
−$15.00
Payment fees (2.9% + $0.30)
−$3.20
Returns (5%)
−$5.00
Profit per order before ads
$41.80 (41.8%)
Break-even ROAS$100.00 ÷ $41.80 = 2.39×
For a 15% profit1 ÷ (0.418 − 0.15) = 3.73×
BY MARGIN

Break-even ROAS by profit margin

Already know your margin before ads, after product cost, shipping, fees and returns? Read your numbers straight off the table.

Break-even ROAS and the ROAS needed for a 10% or 20% profit, by margin before ads
Margin before adsBreak-even ROASFor 10% profitFor 20% profit
20%5.00×10.00×—
25%4.00×6.67×20.00×
30%3.33×5.00×10.00×
35%2.86×4.00×6.67×
40%2.50×3.33×5.00×
45%2.22×2.86×4.00×
50%2.00×2.50×3.33×
60%1.67×2.00×2.50×
70%1.43×1.67×2.00×

A dash means the margin leaves no room for that profit, whatever the ROAS.

WHAT IT MEANS

A good ROAS depends on your margins

There's no universal good ROAS. A store that keeps 60% of each order breaks even at 1.67×; one that keeps 30% needs 3.33× just to stand still. Judge campaigns against your own numbers, not an industry average.

ROAS counts revenue, not profit

A 4× ROAS can still lose money when margins are thin. We explain why in Your ROAS looks great. So why isn't your Shopify store making money?

Ad platforms flatter themselves

Meta and Google count sales they influenced, including people who would have bought anyway. Check reported revenue against your Shopify orders before you trust the ROAS. See how we run Meta ads and Google Ads for profit.

Repeat customers change the math

If customers come back to buy again, you can afford to pay more for the first order. See what a customer is worth with the lifetime value calculator, and how email and SMS bring them back.

FAQ

Questions about break-even ROAS.

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Dair Rose
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One that is comfortably above your break-even ROAS. A store that keeps 60% of each order breaks even at 1.67×, while a store that keeps 30% needs 3.33× just to break even. Work out yours with the calculator, then judge campaigns against it rather than an industry average.

Break-even ROAS is where your ads pay for themselves and you make nothing. Target ROAS adds the profit you want to keep, so it is always higher. Treat break-even as the floor and target as the goal.

Yes. Anything you pay for each order you sell, including shipping, packaging, payment fees and refunds, comes out of the money left for ads. Leave them out and your break-even ROAS looks lower than it really is.

Break-even CPA (cost per acquisition) is the most you can pay in ads to win one order: your profit per order before ads. It is the same idea as break-even ROAS, shown as a cost per purchase instead of a ratio.

MER (marketing efficiency ratio) is your total revenue divided by your total marketing spend, across every channel. Break-even MER is the point where all that marketing pays for itself, and with the same margin before marketing it is the same number as your break-even ROAS.

Sometimes. If customers come back and buy again, a first order that only breaks even, or loses a little, can still pay off over time. Know your numbers first: what each first order costs you, and how long it takes to earn it back.

POAS (profit on ad spend) divides the profit your ads bring in by what they cost, instead of the revenue. It equals your ROAS multiplied by your margin before ads, so a POAS of 1 is exactly break-even.

No. The calculator runs in your browser and nothing you type leaves your device. If you copy a link to your numbers, they are stored in that link only. Enter every amount in the same currency; ROAS is a ratio, so any currency works.

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