Enter what a typical order looks like in your store. You'll see what you actually keep per order, the ROAS you need just to break even on ads, and the most you can pay Meta for one sale. Use any currency — just use the same one everywhere.
Enter your average order value to start.
margin = AOV − product − shipping − AOV × (fees% + returns%)
breakeven ROAS = AOV ÷ margin = 1 ÷ margin%
max CPA = margin
target ROAS (20% profit) = AOV ÷ (margin − 0.20 × AOV) = 1 ÷ (margin% − 20%)
returns are treated as fully lost revenue on top of costs already spent — a cautious assumption.
Breakeven ROAS is the return on ad spend where an ad-driven order pays for its own ad cost and nothing more. If yours is 2.00, every 1 you spend on ads has to bring back 2 in revenue just to stand still. Below that line, each sale from ads loses money. Above it, you make a profit on that sale, before rent, salaries and software.
Price minus product cost looks healthy on paper. But every order also costs you shipping, packaging, payment fees and a share of refunds. Those few extra costs per order can easily push your breakeven ROAS from "easy" to "hard". That's why this calculator asks for them.
Meta counts a purchase if someone bought within its attribution window after clicking or viewing an ad, and it models some conversions it can't track directly. Shopify records actual orders, including people who would have bought anyway. The two numbers measure different things, so they rarely agree. Use breakeven ROAS as your floor, and check it against what actually lands in Shopify — not just what Ads Manager reports.
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