ROAS Calculator
Calculate your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), break-even ROAS, and true campaign profitability after product costs and fees.
By Marginory team · Online sellers with hands-on experience across Etsy, Shopify & PODUpdated Fee data verified against official platform documentation
Campaign Data
$
$
Per-unit Costs
$
$
ROAS Analysis
ROAS5.00x
Break-even ROAS2.08x
Profit$140.00
Profit margin28.0%
Cost per order (CPO)$5.00
Revenue per order$25.00
Revenue needed at different ROAS targets
ROAS 2x$200.00
ROAS 3x$300.00
ROAS 4x$400.00
ROAS 5x$500.00
ROAS 6x$600.00
How this is calculated
ROAS: Ad revenue / Ad spend
Break-even ROAS: 1 / (1 − (Non-ad costs / Revenue))
Profit: Revenue − Product cost × Units − Other costs × Units − Ad spend
Assumptions:
- Revenue = total attributed revenue from ads (not all store revenue)
- Units sold = units attributed to ad campaigns
- Break-even ROAS assumes cost ratio is stable across order sizes
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ROAS and how is it calculated?
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) = Ad revenue / Ad spend. Spend $100 on ads that generate $500 in attributed revenue, and ROAS = 500/100 = 5x, meaning every $1 spent returned $5 in revenue. ROAS is a revenue metric, not a profit metric — a high ROAS can still coexist with a loss if product costs and fees eat the rest.
What is break-even ROAS and why does it matter more than ROAS itself?
Break-even ROAS = 1 / (1 − Non-ad cost ratio), where the cost ratio is your product cost plus fees as a share of revenue. If product cost and fees eat 40% of every sale, break-even ROAS = 1/(1−0.4) = 1.67x. A campaign running at 3x ROAS looks great, but only the difference above your break-even ROAS is actual profit — 3x with a 1.67x break-even leaves real margin; 3x with a 2.9x break-even barely covers costs.
What counts as a 'good' ROAS?
There's no universal good ROAS — it depends entirely on your margin structure. A high-margin digital product might be profitable at 1.5x ROAS; a low-margin dropshipped item might need 4x+ just to break even. Calculate your specific break-even ROAS first (based on your product cost and fees), then judge any campaign's ROAS against that number, not an industry rule of thumb.
What's a common mistake sellers make with ROAS?
Optimizing purely for higher ROAS numbers instead of higher total profit. A campaign at 6x ROAS on $50 of spend generates less profit than a campaign at 3x ROAS on $500 of spend, if the larger campaign's break-even ROAS is comfortably below 3x. Scale is often more valuable than a bigger multiplier once you're solidly above break-even.
How is ROAS different from CPA and profit margin?
ROAS measures revenue return per ad dollar; CPA measures the ad cost to acquire one customer; profit margin measures what's left after all costs, including ad spend, are subtracted from revenue. A campaign can have an attractive ROAS and CPA while still running a thin or negative profit margin if product cost and platform fees are high — always check profit margin, not just ROAS, before scaling ad spend.
Does this calculator work for any ad platform or marketplace?
Yes — ROAS math applies the same way to Facebook/Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, or Pinterest Ads, and the underlying product economics (cost, fees, shipping) work for Etsy, Shopify, eBay, or TikTok Shop. Enter your own revenue, spend, and per-unit costs regardless of platform.