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Marginory

ROAS Calculator

Calculate your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), break-even ROAS, and true campaign profitability after product costs and fees.

By Content reviewed

Campaign Data

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Per-unit Costs

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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

Shopify campaigns: reconcile revenue before judging ROAS

Use attributed seller revenue for the same period as ad spend, excluding buyer tax. Reconcile overlapping campaign attribution with actual orders rather than adding each platform's reported revenue together. Put actual payment and gateway fees, packing and seller-paid shipping in other costs per unit. The calculator does not select a Shopify plan or apply account fees automatically.

A hypothetical campaign with $500 revenue, $100 ad spend and 20 units, each costing $8 plus $5 in other costs, has 5× ROAS and $140 campaign contribution. Its pre-ad contribution is $240, so break-even ROAS is $500 ÷ $240 = 2.08×. Fixed subscriptions, apps and overhead still need to be deducted separately.

Check Shopify payment costs or include monthly Shopify expenses.

POD campaigns: enter a matched fulfillment quote

Enter the provider's actual product and print cost as product cost. Put postage, marketplace/payment fees and an expected refund allowance in other costs per unit. Count shipping once. Keep subscriptions and upfront design costs in a separate budget; do not apply an advertised maximum discount to every SKU.

For a hypothetical $500 campaign with $100 ad spend and 20 units costing $12 plus $6 each, pre-ad contribution is $140. ROAS remains 5×, but campaign contribution falls to $40 and break-even ROAS rises to 3.57×. This is a worked example, not a POD benchmark or provider price.

Check POD order contribution and model full-refund losses.

What zero spend and zero orders mean

ROAS is undefined without ad spend, and cost per order is undefined without orders. If non-ad costs use all revenue, no finite ROAS can break even under those assumptions. Positive ROAS alone does not establish profit, incremental sales or customer lifetime value.

Review the market, fee bases and exclusions shown with this tool. Published rates and illustrative cost inputs have different certainty. Compare your breakdown with an actual order statement. Sources and methodology.

Related Tools

Profit CalculatorBreak-Even CalculatorCPA CalculatorPricing Calculator

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.