Amazon PPC math

Amazon Break-even ACOS Calculator

The exact ACOS ceiling for your Sponsored Products campaigns — after referral and FBA fees, not before.

Break-even ACOS = your profit margin after Amazon fees, as a percentage of price. Take your selling price, subtract COGS, the ~15% referral fee, and the FBA fulfillment fee — what remains, divided by price, is the most you can spend on ads per dollar of sales. A $30 product with $9 COGS, $4.50 referral fee, and $5.50 FBA fee keeps $11 of margin, so break-even ACOS is about 37%. Bid above it and every click erodes profit. Enter your numbers for your exact ceiling.

Amazon Break-even ACOS Calculator — your per-order numbers

Break-even ROAS

2.73×

Break-even ACOS

36.7%

Target ROAS

4.62×

Margin / order

$11.00

At 36.7% gross margin, spend up to 36.7% of revenue on ads to break even.

Estimate only. Figures assume the costs you entered are complete and per-order; they exclude returns, overhead, and taxes.

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Amazon fees in this calculation

Presets reflect typical Amazon economics (verified 2026-07-23) — adjust every field to your actual numbers. Estimates only.

Referral fee Most categories; 8% for some (verify yours) ~15% of price
FBA fulfillment Size/weight tiered — this preset uses $5.50 $3–$7+ per unit
Inbound shipping Amortize freight-to-FBA into your unit COGS often in COGS

Worked examples

Standard-size FBA product

Selling price $30.00
All per-order costs $19.00
Contribution margin $11.00
Break-even ACOS 36.7%

Referral 15% ($4.50) + FBA $5.50 — Amazon takes a third of the price before ads.

Higher-priced, light item

Selling price $80.00
All per-order costs $40.20
Contribution margin $39.80
Break-even ACOS 49.7%

Referral scales with price ($12) but FBA stays weight-based — margins widen.

Break-even ACOS by margin — quick reference

Gross margin (after fees)Break-even ACOS
20% 20%
25% 25%
33% 33%
40% 40%
50% 50%
60% 60%

Frequently asked questions

What is a good ACOS on Amazon?

Any ACOS below your break-even ACOS is profitable on the order itself. There is no universal "good" number: a product keeping 37% margin after fees breaks even at 37% ACOS, one keeping 20% breaks even at 20%. Compare campaigns to your own ceiling, not to category averages.

Does break-even ACOS include the Amazon referral fee?

Yes — that is the point of calculating it after fees. The referral fee (15% for most categories) and the FBA fulfillment fee come out of your margin before a single ad dollar, so both must be in the calculation or your "break-even" will quietly lose money.

What is the difference between ACOS and TACOS?

ACOS is ad spend divided by ad-attributed sales. TACOS (total ACOS) divides ad spend by ALL sales, organic included. This calculator gives you the per-order ACOS ceiling; TACOS is a portfolio metric for judging how ads lift organic rank over time.

How do I convert break-even ACOS to ROAS?

ROAS = 1 ÷ ACOS. A 37% break-even ACOS equals a 2.7× break-even ROAS. Amazon dashboards speak ACOS; Google and Meta speak ROAS — same limit, inverted.

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