What’s a Good ROAS for Meta Ads? Find Your Break-Even First
“What’s a good ROAS for Meta ads?” is one of the questions I get asked the most. People usually expect a number, like 3x or 4x.
Here’s the honest answer. A ROAS of 2 could be losing money for you, and a ROAS of 2 could be making someone else a healthy profit. There’s no good ROAS until you know one number first: your break-even ROAS.
What ROAS actually tells you
ROAS is return on ad spend. It’s the sales from your ads divided by what you spent on them. If you spent $1,000 and Meta reports $2,500 in sales, your ROAS is 2.5x.
That’s it. ROAS only sees two things: sales and ad spend. It doesn’t know what your product costs you, what you paid for shipping, or what the payment gateway took. That’s why the same ROAS can mean profit for one business and a loss for another.
Why “3x is good” is the wrong benchmark
You’ll see people online say 3x is good, 4x is great. Those numbers came from someone else’s margin, not yours.
Imagine two brands. One sells a $200 set that costs $30 to make, and it’s very profitable at 2x. The other sells a $50 item with thin margins, and it loses money at 2.5x. Same platform, same kind of ROAS, completely different result.
Here’s the question I ask every advertiser: what is your break-even ROAS? If you can’t answer it in 5 seconds, that’s the real problem, not your ads.
How to work out your break-even ROAS
Let’s say, for example, you sell a product for $50. Now take away what it really costs you to fulfil that order:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Selling price | $50 |
| Product cost | − $15 |
| Shipping | − $8 |
| Payment and platform fees | − $3 |
| Left over per order | $24 |
That $24 is the most you can spend on ads to get one sale without losing money. Now divide the price by it:
Break-even ROAS = selling price ÷ what’s left over = $50 ÷ $24 ≈ 2.1x
Below 2.1x, every sale from Meta loses you money. Read that again. You’re paying Meta to lose money, even though the dashboard shows a “positive” ROAS.
Remember to include returns and refunds if you have them, and what you pay an agency or freelancer if their fee scales with your ad spend. Both push your break-even higher.
So what is a good ROAS?
A good ROAS is one that sits comfortably above your break-even, with enough room left for real profit. Break-even only means you didn’t lose money on the ad. It doesn’t pay your rent.
Using the example above, break-even is 2.1x. A sensible target sits above that, so you have a cushion for a bad week, a rise in costs during a sale season, or a few more refunds than usual. How far above depends on how much profit you need from each order.
Put it this way:
- Below break-even: losing money on every sale. Don’t scale. Find the leak first.
- Just above break-even: making a little, but one bad week puts you back below the line.
- Comfortably above your target: healthy, as long as Meta’s number matches your real sales.
Look at prospecting and retargeting separately
Here’s the thing most people miss. A campaign-level or account-level ROAS is a blend. A blend number hides where the money is leaking.
Retargeting usually shows a much higher ROAS, because those people already know you. Prospecting, reaching new people, usually shows a lower one. Put them together and the average can look fine while your cold campaigns quietly lose money.
So check them one by one. Your prospecting doesn’t need to look as good as retargeting, but you need to know which side is carrying the account, and whether the whole thing is still above break-even.
Check that Meta’s number is real
Meta’s ROAS is only as good as its tracking. Before you trust it, compare the purchase value in Ads Manager with the sales in your store for the same period.
If Meta reports more sales than your store shows, your real ROAS is lower than the dashboard says. If your numbers have never been checked against each other, do that before you make any big budget decision.
Find your own break-even ROAS in 2 minutes
Doing this on paper works, but it’s easy to miss a cost. I built a free scorecard that does the maths for you.
Get your free Know Your Numbers Scorecard →
Enter your price and costs, no access to your ad account needed. You’ll see your break-even ROAS, a target ROAS, the most you can pay Meta for one sale, and what you’re keeping or losing for every $1,000 you spend.
A quick self-check
- Can you say your break-even ROAS in 5 seconds?
- Does that number include shipping, fees, returns and what you pay for ads management?
- Do you know the most you can pay Meta for one sale?
- Have you looked at prospecting and retargeting ROAS separately?
- Have you compared Meta’s purchase value with your real sales this month?
- Are you judging ROAS on at least a week of data, not one day?
If you said no to any of these, start there before you change a single ad.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ROAS for Meta ads?
There’s no single good ROAS for every business. A good ROAS is one that sits comfortably above your break-even ROAS, with room left for profit. Work out your break-even first by dividing your selling price by what’s left after product, shipping, fees and returns.
Is a ROAS of 2 good?
It depends on your margin. If you sell a $50 product and $24 is left after costs, your break-even ROAS is about 2.1x, so a ROAS of 2 loses money. With a higher margin, the same ROAS of 2 can be profitable.
How do I calculate break-even ROAS?
Take your selling price and subtract product cost, shipping, payment fees and returns. What’s left is the most you can spend on ads for one sale. Divide the selling price by that amount. For example, $50 ÷ $24 ≈ 2.1x.
Why is my Meta ads ROAS different from my store sales?
Meta reports the sales it believes came from your ads, based on its tracking and attribution settings. It can count sales differently from your store. Compare Meta’s purchase value with your real sales for the same period before you trust the ROAS for budget decisions.
Want me to look at your numbers with you?
The scorecard tells you whether there’s a gap. It can’t tell you why. If you’re below break-even, or just above it and stuck, the Know Your Numbers Assessment is a 90-minute session with me on screen share. We go through every ad against your numbers, look at your landing page and offer, and you leave with a written plan of what to fix first, plus the recording.
If you want to go further on the maths, read how to set your target cost per result from your margin, or how to raise your order value to lift ROAS without spending more.
Written by Jason Gan, a Meta ads strategist who has run Meta ads since 2010 and personally audited more than 1,000 ad accounts. Meta Certified Professional and Badged Meta Business Partner. Watch real account breakdowns on his YouTube channel.
