Break-even ROAS calculator

Enter your selling price and per-order costs. The calculator finds your profit margin and the minimum ROAS a campaign must clear before it makes a dollar.

Profit per order (pre-ads)
Profit margin
Break-even ROAS

Break-even ROAS = selling price ÷ profit per order (the inverse of your margin). Below this number the campaign loses money on every sale; a target ROAS should sit comfortably above it.

Why break-even ROAS is the number that matters

Every ROAS target that isn’t anchored to margin is a vibe. Break-even ROAS is the anchor: break-even ROAS = selling price ÷ profit per order — equivalently, 1 ÷ profit margin. Sell at $80 with $40 of true per-order cost and your margin is 50%, so break-even ROAS is 2.0x. Below 2.0x, every conversion loses money no matter how green the dashboard looks.

Count the real costs

The number is only as honest as the costs you feed it. Beyond cost of goods, include shipping you subsidize, payment processing, pick-and-pack, and expected returns. Agencies: if your fee is a percentage of spend, it belongs in the math too. The most common way to miss break-even is to compute it from a margin that was never real.

From break-even to target

Break-even is a floor, not a goal — a campaign running exactly at break-even is working for free. A practical target ROAS sits far enough above break-even to fund the profit you actually want per order. If break-even is 2.0x and you want $12 of profit on an $80 order, you need 2.86x. Set that as your tROAS, and revisit it when prices or costs move — break-even drifts, and last quarter’s target quietly stops protecting you.

Frequently asked questions

What is the break-even ROAS formula?

Break-even ROAS = selling price ÷ profit per order, which is the same as 1 ÷ profit margin. A 40% margin means a 2.5x break-even ROAS; a 25% margin means 4.0x.

Should my target ROAS equal my break-even ROAS?

No. Break-even is the floor where you make $0. Set your target ROAS above break-even by enough to produce the per-order profit you actually want, then let bidding optimize toward it.

What costs should I include when calculating break-even ROAS?

Everything variable per order: cost of goods, shipping you cover, payment processing, fulfillment labor, expected returns, and percentage-of-spend agency fees. Leaving costs out makes break-even look lower than it is, which quietly funds unprofitable campaigns.

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