How Much Should You Spend on Amazon PPC? Budget Is an Output, Not an Input
I don't set a PPC budget on my own account — I set a TACoS ceiling and let profitable campaigns spend. Real per-unit break-even math (mine runs 42-50%, not the guru 25%), why budget is an output not an input, and the products that can't afford ads at all.
Frequently asked questions
- How much should a new Amazon seller spend on PPC?
- Less than you'd think, and only after two checks: does the product cost you under ~20% of its retail price to make and land, and what's its real break-even ACoS (often 40-50%, not the 25% you'll read online)? If the unit economics work, start small, watch your TACoS, and let profitable campaigns scale. If they don't, no budget fixes it.
- Is 10-15% of revenue a good Amazon PPC budget?
- No — a flat percentage of revenue ignores margin, which is what actually determines how much you can spend. A 50%-margin product can sustain far more ad spend than a 15%-margin one at the same revenue. Budget from each product's break-even ACoS, and govern the total with TACoS, not a revenue percentage.
- What is a good TACoS?
- There's no universal number — the point of TACoS is direction over time. If it holds steady or falls while sales grow, your advertising is helping the whole business and you can keep spending. If it climbs without sales following, that's your signal to pull back, well before an arbitrary monthly budget would tell you to.
- Should I increase my PPC budget during Prime Day?
- Prime Day is one of the few times a hard daily budget actually hurts you — a proven campaign can hit its cap by midday and miss the surge. I raise budgets (and sometimes bids) on products that are already converting profitably, because there's more profitable volume to capture, not because the rules changed. Break-even is the same on Prime Day. I don't pour money into unproven products hoping the event carries them.
RedHen Labs — Amazon profit tracking & PPC automation, flat-rate.