Blog
Plain writing about whether your ads actually make money. No growth-hacking, no vanity metrics.
26 October 2026 · 5 min read
How to bid Google Ads on profit instead of ROAS
Target ROAS cannot see your margins. Send contribution as the conversion value and a 443% revenue target becomes 140% on profit.
Read it25 October 2026 · 4 min read
How much to increase your ad budget, and when to stop
The 20% rule keeps the algorithm stable. This is the part it leaves out: how far ROAS can fall at each step before you are earning less.
Read it24 October 2026 · 5 min read
Why did my ROAS drop? How to tell whether it actually matters
A 17% fall in ROAS that still made $5,447, and why cutting the budget would barely have helped. Check the line first, then find the cause.
Read it9 October 2026 · 3 min read
The break-even sales formula in Google Sheets or Excel
Six formulas that turn a blank sheet into a break-even ROAS calculator, fixed costs included, with example numbers to check your results against.
Read it9 October 2026 · 3 min read
What is ROAS? Meaning, formula, and what it doesn't tell you
The meaning of ROAS, how to calculate it, how Meta and Google measure it, and the one comparison that tells you whether yours makes money.
Read it8 October 2026 · 3 min read
What is a good profit margin for an ecommerce store?
A 62% gross margin, a 3% net margin, same store, same month. Here is where the money goes, and the one-line formula that connects them.
Read it8 October 2026 · 4 min read
LTV:CAC for ecommerce: when losing money on the first order is fine
This store loses money on every first order and recovers it on the second. Here is how to calculate whether that trade works for your cash flow.
Read it7 October 2026 · 3 min read
Break-even ROAS for dropshipping
Scale to spread the fixed costs, the advice goes. For a dropshipping store below its floor, scaling makes the loss bigger. Here is how to tell which side you are on.
Read it7 October 2026 · 3 min read
Unit economics: one order, from price to profit
Follow one average order from the price the customer pays to what is left at the end. This store makes money on the order and loses it on the month.
Read it6 October 2026 · 3 min read
The break-even point for a store that advertises
The textbook break-even point leaves out your biggest cost, the ads. Here is how many orders you need each month at each ROAS, with a worked example.
Read it6 October 2026 · 3 min read
What free shipping does to your break-even ROAS
Free shipping helps conversion and takes a fixed bite out of every order. A threshold can keep most of the benefit and lower the ROAS you need.
Read it5 October 2026 · 3 min read
Ecommerce return rate: what refunds do to your break-even ROAS
A 20% return rate took more than a quarter of this store's margin. Cutting it to 12% turned the same ads from a loss into a profit.
Read it5 October 2026 · 3 min read
ROAS vs CPA vs CAC: what each one measures
ROAS and CPA are one number seen from two sides. CAC is something else, and usually higher. Here is what each measures and when to use it.
Read it4 October 2026 · 3 min read
How to increase average order value, and what it does to your break-even ROAS
Shipping costs the same on a small order and a big one, so raising AOV lowers the ROAS you need. Here is how much, with a worked example.
Read it4 October 2026 · 3 min read
How to set your ROAS goal in Meta Ads
Too high and Meta won't spend your budget. Too low and it spends it at a loss. Here is how to set a ROAS goal from your own break-even.
Read it3 October 2026 · 3 min read
How to make your ROAS profitable without touching the ads
Same ads, same spend, same ROAS, and a loss becomes a profit. Here are the levers outside the ad account that lower your break-even line.
Read it3 October 2026 · 3 min read
POAS vs ROAS: profit on ad spend, and the trap in it
POAS promises a simple test: above 1 is profit. Calculated from gross profit, it called this losing campaign a 40% winner. Here is how to calculate it properly.
Read it2 October 2026 · 3 min read
Blended ROAS: what it tells you, and what it hides
A blended 3.1x ROAS can hide one channel that is losing money on every order. Here is how to find it, and why you should test before you cut it.
Read it2 October 2026 · 3 min read
What a media-buying fee does to your break-even ROAS
A 12% fee on ad spend moves your break-even ROAS as much as a bad week of ads. Here is how to calculate the ROAS lift an agency or media buyer needs to deliver just to pay for itself.
Read it1 October 2026 · 4 min read
Is dropshipping profitable? Work it out before you launch
Not passive income, and not a scam either. A $10 difference in product cost decides it before a single ad runs, and you can check which side you are on in ten minutes.
Read it1 October 2026 · 3 min read
Target ROAS: how to set it in Google Ads from your real margins
A round number is the usual way to pick a target ROAS in Google Ads. Here is how to set it from your real break-even instead, and why it has to change when your budget does.
Read it30 September 2026 · 3 min read
How much should you spend on Facebook ads?
Daily budget rules of thumb are about feeding the algorithm, not making money. Here is how to work out the minimum budget that covers your costs at the ROAS you actually get.
Read it30 September 2026 · 3 min read
MER vs ROAS: which number should run your store?
Add up what Meta and Google each claim and you can get more revenue than you sold. MER measures what really arrived, and it can show a loss the platforms call a profit.
Read it29 September 2026 · 4 min read
Did that change make more profit, or just a higher ROAS?
Cutting spend lifts ROAS and lowers profit. Two months from one store: 2.00x makes $7,447 and 1.50x makes $10,174. Here is how to tell which a change actually gave you.
Read it29 September 2026 · 3 min read
Marginal ROAS: why ROAS drops when you scale, and when to stop
Scaling usually lowers ROAS. Sometimes profit still goes up, sometimes it goes down. One number, marginal ROAS, tells you which, and when to stop.
Read it28 September 2026 · 3 min read
Cash on delivery in the UAE: what COD does to your break-even ROAS
COD raises your cost per order and makes Meta's ROAS look better than the cash you collect. Here is a month that looks like break-even in Ads Manager and is really a large loss.
Read it28 September 2026 · 3 min read
Contribution margin vs gross margin: which one sets your ROAS target
Gross margin makes a 2.2x ROAS look safe. Contribution margin shows it can never be profitable. Here is the difference and how to calculate the one that matters for ads.
Read it27 September 2026 · 3 min read
Minimum ROAS: the floor your ads can never go below
Every store has a ROAS below which more spend only makes things worse. Here is how to find that floor, and why your real break-even is always above it.
Read it27 September 2026 · 3 min read
ROAS vs ROI: why a 4x ROAS can still lose money
ROAS counts sales. ROI counts what you keep. Here is a store with a 4x ROAS and a negative ROI, and the one number that turns either into the other.
Read it26 September 2026 · 3 min read
Break-even cost per acquisition: the most you can pay for an order
The usual break-even cost per acquisition ignores your fixed costs, so it tells you that you can afford more per order than you really can. Here is the full version, and how the cap moves as you spend more.
Read it26 September 2026 · 4 min read
ROAS benchmarks, and why the average is not a target
The average ecommerce ROAS is around 2.9x, and it cannot tell you whether yours is good. A grocery store at 2x is losing $33,000 a month. Here is what to use instead.
Read it25 September 2026 · 3 min read
VAT on Meta ads in the UAE, and what the 5% does to your break-even ROAS
Meta adds 5% VAT to UAE ad invoices unless your TRN is on the account. For businesses that cannot recover it, that 5% can turn a profitable month into a loss.
Read it24 September 2026 · 3 min read
The break-even ROAS formula that includes your fixed costs
1 divided by your margin is the number most calculators give you. It ignores rent and salaries, and it can be out by a full point of ROAS. Here is the complete formula.
Read it8 September 2026 · updated 25 September · 10 min read
What is a good ROAS?
Everyone quotes 3x or 4x. Both are meaningless without your margin and your fixed costs, and the number you need falls as you spend more. Worked examples at 2x, 3x and 4x, with the charts.
Read it