What is a good ROAS for dropshipping?
Short answer
There is no universal answer — the only figure that matters is your break-even ROAS, which is selling price divided by gross profit per unit. On a $49.95 product with $35.20 of gross profit that is 1.42, so anything above 1.42 makes money. A 2.0 ROAS is excellent on a $30 product and loss-making on a $150 product with thin margins.
| Selling price | Landed cost | Gross profit | Break-even ROAS | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $19.95 | $6.50 | $12.57 | 1.59x | Too thin for cold paid traffic. |
| $29.95 | $9.00 | $19.78 | 1.51x | Workable only with cheap CPMs. |
| $49.95 | $13.00 | $35.20 | 1.42x | The sweet spot for impulse products. |
| $79.95 | $22.00 | $55.33 | 1.44x | Strong. Absorbs a $40 CPA comfortably. |
| $129.95 | $38.00 | $87.88 | 1.48x | Longer consideration cycle, higher CPA tolerance. |
Break-even ROAS at different price points, assuming a 3x markup on landed cost and 2.9% + 30c payment fees.
Stop asking for a number
“What is a good ROAS” is the wrong question, and it is the reason people run unprofitable campaigns that look fine in the dashboard. ROAS is revenue divided by ad spend. It knows nothing about your costs.
The right question is: what is my break-even ROAS, and am I above it?
The formula
Break-even ROAS = selling price ÷ gross profit per unit
Gross profit = price − product − shipping − payment fees − other per-order costsWorked example on a typical product:
- Selling price: $49.95
- Product cost: $8.40, shipping: $4.60 → landed cost $13.00
- Payment fees: 2.9% + 30¢ = $1.75
- Gross profit: $35.20
- Break-even ROAS: 49.95 ÷ 35.20 = 1.42
Every dollar of ad spend has to bring back $1.42 before you have made anything. How to calculate break-even ROAS walks each line of that sum, including what not to subtract. At 2.0 ROAS you pay $24.98 in ads and keep $10.22 per order, which is a 20.5% net margin.
Break-even CPA is the number to actually watch
Break-even ROAS is useful for comparing campaigns. Break-even CPA is what you act on, and it is simply your gross profit per unit: $35.20 in the example. That figure sits next to “cost per purchase” in the ads manager, so no mental arithmetic is required at 2am.
Realistic targets
- Below 1.4x break-even: the product prices well. Most healthy dropshipping stores sit here.
- 1.4x-1.8x break-even: workable, but there is no room for a bad week or Q4 CPMs.
- Above 1.8x break-even: the product cannot survive cold traffic. Raise the price or find a cheaper landed cost.
For actual campaign performance, a first test that returns anywhere between 1.2x and 1.8x is normal, and a winner that settles at 2x-2.5x after a week of creative iteration is a good outcome. Screenshots of 6x ROAS are almost always day-one retargeting numbers on tiny spend.
Expect ROAS to fall when you scale
Moving from $50/day to $200/day means buying more expensive audiences. A drop from 2.4x to 1.9x while daily profit rises is a successful scale. Watch profit per day, not the ratio — when to scale a winning product covers the five-day rule and how to raise budget without resetting the learning phase.
Do this before your next launch
Put your product into the break-even calculator. If break-even ROAS comes out above 1.8, the fix is pricing or sourcing, not targeting. The supplier comparison is where you find a better landed cost.
Related questions
Is a 2x ROAS good?
Why is my ROAS good but my bank account empty?
This is one question out of a much longer guide. The full breakdown lives onthe full ad blueprint, and you can run your own numbers in thebreak-even calculator.