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1d • General discussion
Amazon Ads Costing You Too Much?
If your Amazon Ads spend feels out of control, the issue usually isn’t ads themselves—it’s not knowing your ACOS and your break-even point.
Once you know this number, you can make smarter decisions instead of guessing.
🔢 How to Calculate Your Break-Even ACOS
Start with two numbers:
- Book price
- Royalty per sale
Example:
- Book price: $9.99
- Royalty: $4.00
Calculation:
- 4 ÷ 9.99 = 0.40
- 0.40 × 100 = 40%
✅ Your break-even ACOS is 40%
This means:
- Below 40% → profitable
- At 40% → break-even
- Above 40% → losing money on that sale
🎯 What To Do With This Number
Once you know your break-even ACOS:
- This is the number you should aim to stay under in each campaign
- It becomes your decision-making filter for scaling or pausing ads
⚖️ Being Over Break-Even Isn’t Always Bad
An ACOS above your break-even point isn’t automatically a failure.
Higher ACOS can still make sense if:
- Ads are increasing visibility
- You’re seeing organic sales lift
- The book leads to series, bundles, or audiobooks
The key question to ask:
Is my goal pure ad profitability, or am I okay investing in ads if total sales (ads + organic) are profitable?
Intent matters.
🔧 How I Tighten My Ad Campaigns
To avoid wasting money, I rely on campaign budget rules.
My approach:
- Set a low daily budget per campaign (typically $10–$15)
- Create a rule that:
This tells Amazon:
- “Sell my book aggressively when I’m not losing money”
- “Stop immediately when performance slips”
✅ Final Takeaway
If you’re running ads without knowing your:
- Royalty
- Break-even ACOS
- Clear campaign goal
You’re letting Amazon decide how much you spend.
Control the numbers, and the ads start working for you instead of against you.
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Amazon Ads Costing You Too Much?
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