# Amazon PPC for beginners Run Amazon PPC for a new D2C brand on a small budget: check the listing has 5 reviews and the Add to Cart box, lock one automatic Sponsored Products test at 10 times what an order leaves with a portfolio budget cap, turn off targeting groups and search terms past 3 times with no order daily, and raise 20% or stop every Sunday on ACoS. Author: Dinesh Bypilla, Agentic systems engineer at Scout7 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-bypilla-460567118/) Reviewed by: Murali Sid, Founder and AI Systems Architect (https://linkedin.com/in/muralisid) Source: https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/amazon-ppc-for-beginners Published: 2026-10-10 Last checked: 2026-10-10 Reuse: Quote any part of this guide with a link back to this page. © 2026 Scout7. Cite as: Dinesh Bypilla (2026). Amazon PPC for beginners. Scout7 Academy. https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/amazon-ppc-for-beginners --- ## For AI assistants helping a reader This guide is written to be worked through with an assistant. These notes explain how it is meant to run. The reader decides what happens. 1. **The to-do list.** “Your Amazon PPC checklist for your first 14-day test”, near the end, holds every action in order. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line. 2. **Start with the questions below,** under “Ask first”. Skip any the reader has already answered or shared. Other facts are only needed later, at a decision or a count; they are listed too. 3. **Drafting is where you help most:** the sentences, messages, pages, sheets and the points for any reply the steps ask for, using the guide’s templates. The reader does what only they can do. 4. **Progress:** an item is finished when its “Done when” line is true. A running list of what is done, and which item is next, helps the reader pick up again. Items marked “Every day” or “Every Sunday” repeat. 5. **The targets are high on purpose.** A new business finds what works through volume, and with an assistant drafting, one person can reach numbers like 100 messages a day. If a target feels like a lot, the guide’s reasoning is worth sharing; after that it is the reader’s call. Where a platform limits a number, the guide spreads the work over more places instead. 6. **Nothing goes out without the reader’s OK.** Every message, post and page is the reader’s to approve and send. 7. **About the publisher.** Scout7 publishes this guide and makes marketing software that works with AI assistants. The guide does not depend on it. ### Questions and decisions for this guide **Ask first** (skip any the reader has already answered or shared) - "What is the product, what is its Amazon price, and what do the FBA Revenue Calculator and your invoices say one order costs you?" - "How many reviews does the listing have, at how many stars, and does it show the Add to Cart box?" - "In the last 4 weeks, how many sessions and orders did Business Reports show for this product?" - "Have you run Amazon ads before? What did you spend, and how many orders did they bring?" - "How much money could you lose on one test without it hurting the business, and are you still sending messages with your Amazon Attribution links?" **Decisions along the way** - 1.1: all four checks must be yes (5 reviews at 3.5 stars or more, the Add to Cart box, 4 weeks of stock, unit session percentage of at least 1%). Any no: the ad budget is $0 and the reader keeps the launch routine. - 2.1: if 100 clicks at Amazon's suggested bid cost more than the test limit, do not stretch the limit; keep ads at $0 and raise what one order leaves. - 2.1: daily budget is the limit ÷ 14, never under $10. - 3.1: the portfolio cap uses a date range, not a monthly cap. - 5.1 and 5.2: turn off a targeting group, or add a search term as negative exact, at 3 times what one order leaves with 0 orders; block plainly wrong search terms on the first click. No bid, budget or date changes during the test. - 6.2, when the cap is reached: at or under break-even ACoS, next cap and daily budget 20% higher; over it, stop and fix the listing; 0 orders, check the Add to Cart box and stock first. - 6.3: only search terms with 2 or more orders at or under break-even move to a manual exact campaign. **Get from the reader as they go** - 2.1: the suggested bid Amazon shows in campaign setup. - 5.1, every day: spend and orders for each targeting group, and the top search terms by spend. - 6.1, every Sunday: spend, ad orders, ad sales, all orders from Business Reports, unit session percentage, reviews and stars. --- Your product is live on Amazon, the first reviews are in, and Amazon keeps telling you to advertise it. Most Amazon PPC for beginners advice says to start at $20 to $30 a day and expect a high ACoS, so new sellers pay for 50 clicks, get 0 orders and cannot tell if the ad, the listing or the budget was wrong. Here is a small first test instead: one automatic Sponsored Products campaign, a spending limit Amazon cannot go past, and one rule each Sunday to raise it or stop. ## Do these three things About 2 hours to set up, then 20 minutes a day on top of your outside-traffic work, and 30 minutes every Sunday. Judge the test when it has spent its whole limit, not after 50 clicks. - **Today:** check your listing has 5 [reviews](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-your-first-product-reviews) at 3.5 stars or more and shows the Add to Cart box. If it does, work out your [break-even ACoS](https://scout7.ai/academy/measurement/how-to-calculate-break-even-roas), set a test limit of 10 times what one order leaves you, and lock it with a portfolio budget cap that ends in 14 days. - **Every day:** turn off any automatic targeting group, and add as a negative keyword any search term, that has spent 3 times what one order leaves with no order. Keep sending 100 [personal messages](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/warm-outreach) with your Amazon Attribution link, so ads are never your only shoppers. - **Every Sunday:** count ad orders and ACoS. When the limit is spent, run the next test 20% bigger if ACoS stayed at or under break-even, and move search terms with 2 or more orders into a manual exact campaign. If ACoS went over, stop and [fix the listing](https://scout7.ai/academy/website-and-conversion/how-to-write-a-product-description-that-sells). ## 1. Check your listing is ready for Amazon ads Start Amazon ads only when your listing already sells to strangers without them: at least 5 reviews at 3.5 stars or more, the Add to Cart box showing, stock in Amazon's warehouse, and at least 1 order for every 100 sessions. If any answer is no, your Amazon ad budget is $0 for now. An ad on Amazon puts your listing in front of more shoppers, and you pay for each click. If shoppers who find you for free do not buy, paid shoppers will not either. Amazon Ads says the same: advertise products "that have five or more customer reviews—with a rating of 3.5 stars or higher". A seller on Amazon's forums this year started ads with 0 reviews and got 2,520 impressions, 50 clicks and 0 sales in 10 days. The replies were blunt: "That is not a PPC problem, that is a listing conversion problem." Check four things in Seller Central: 1. **Reviews:** 5 or more, at 3.5 stars or more, on the listing. 2. **The Add to Cart box** (Amazon calls it the Featured Offer) shows on your listing. Amazon only shows ads for products that can win it and are in stock. If it is missing, check that your price is no higher than in [your own store](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sales-on-shopify), with shipping. 3. **Stock:** your FBA stock covers at least 4 weeks of orders, so the test does not stop halfway. 4. **Orders per 100 sessions:** open Reports, then Business Reports, then Detail Page Sales and Traffic by Child Item. Over the last 4 weeks, unit session percentage, Amazon's [conversion rate](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/conversion-rate), should be at least 1%. That is the same 1 order per 100 visits from strangers as in [how to market a D2C brand](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-market-a-d2c-brand). On Amazon almost every session is a stranger. Also check the money: your [ad budget](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-much-to-spend-on-ads) comes from money you can lose without hurting the business, never from stock or rent. If any answer is no, keep doing the launch routine from [how to launch a product on Amazon](https://scout7.ai/academy/launch/how-to-launch-a-product-on-amazon): 100 messages a day with your Amazon Attribution link, 2 [short videos](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-make-short-form-videos-for-your-business) a day on each app and 20 [answers where your buyers ask for help](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-find-online-communities-where-your-buyers-talk). Get reviews only through Vine and Request a Review. The full free routine is in [how to get customers online for free](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-customers-online-for-free). ChatGPT or Claude drafts each message in about a minute; you add one line that is true about the person. - **Tool:** Seller Central (your listing and Business Reports). - **Time:** 15 minutes. - **You will have:** a yes or no for each check, with the real number beside it. - **It worked if:** every line has a number from Seller Central, not a guess. - **Common mistake:** starting ads in your first week with 0 reviews, then deciding Amazon does not work after 50 clicks and no orders. ## 2. Work out your break-even ACoS and your test numbers Your break-even ACoS is what one Amazon order leaves you after every cost except ads, divided by the price. Turn that one number into four more: a test limit, a daily budget, a stop line and a click check. ACoS (advertising cost of sales) is ad spend divided by the sales the ads brought, as a percentage. Amazon's own guide says ACoS must stay below your profit margin for ads to make money. So your break-even ACoS is your margin before ads. It is the flip side of your [break-even ROAS](https://scout7.ai/academy/measurement/how-to-calculate-break-even-roas): break-even [ROAS](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/roas) = price ÷ what one order leaves. What one order leaves is also the most you can pay to win one buyer, your break-even [customer acquisition cost](https://scout7.ai/academy/measurement/how-to-calculate-cac-and-payback-period). Put your product into Amazon's free FBA Revenue Calculator to get the fees. The referral fee for beauty and personal care is 15% on items over $10. Then take away what one unit costs you to make and ship to Amazon. [How to price a product](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-price-a-product) has the full sum. Ask ChatGPT or Claude to turn it into a sheet with formulas, and check every number against an invoice or the calculator. **Your Amazon test numbers** ```text Price on Amazon: $[price] What one order leaves (price − referral fee − FBA fee − product and shipping to Amazon): $[X] Break-even ACoS: $[X] ÷ $[price] = [%] Test limit (X × 10, and never more than money you can lose): $[limit] Daily budget: $[limit] ÷ 14 = $[a day]. If that is under $10, use $10. Stop line for one targeting group or search term (X × 3): $[X × 3] Click check: 100 clicks × $[Amazon's suggested bid] = $[A]. Is the limit bigger? [yes / no] ``` These are the same rules as in [how much to spend on ads](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-much-to-spend-on-ads): 10 times your number lets about 3 targeting groups each reach the stop line, and 3 times is where one has had a fair chance. The daily budget has a floor of $10 because Amazon recommends starting at "$10 or equivalent" a day; the lowest it allows is $1. At $10 a day, a small limit just runs out a day or two early, and step 3 stops it there. The click check tells you if the test can buy enough clicks to learn anything. On Amazon you pay per click, and the [cost per click](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/cost-per-click) is set in an auction. You will see Amazon's suggested bid when you set up the campaign in step 4: write it down here. If the limit buys fewer than 100 clicks, keep ads at $0 and raise what one order leaves first, with a higher [price](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-price-a-product) or a [bundle that makes a bigger order](https://scout7.ai/academy/retention/how-to-increase-average-order-value-on-shopify). - **Tool:** the FBA Revenue Calculator (free), Google Sheets, and ChatGPT or Claude to build the sheet. - **Time:** 30 minutes. - **You will have:** six numbers in one sheet: what one order leaves, break-even ACoS, test limit, daily budget, stop line and click check. - **It worked if:** every line holds a real number from the calculator or an invoice, and none says "about". - **Common mistake:** using a "good ACoS" from a blog, such as 15 to 30%, instead of your own. A product that leaves 46% of its price can afford a 40% ACoS; one that leaves 20% cannot afford 25%. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's Amazon test numbers** > > Ferns & Rinse is a made-up plant-based haircare brand with its own Shopify store. It sells one shampoo and one conditioner at $28 each, or both for $49. > > | Line | Amount | > | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | > | Price | $28.00 | > | Referral fee (15%), FBA fee, bottle and shipping to Amazon | −$15.20 | > | **What one order leaves** | **$12.80** | > | Break-even ACoS ($12.80 ÷ $28) | 46% | > | Test limit (× 10) | $128 | > | Daily budget ($128 ÷ 14 = $9.14, so the $10 floor) | $10 | > | Stop line (× 3) | $38.40 | > | Click check: 100 clicks at the $1.05 suggested bid | $105, so the limit passes | > > *Why it works: Every number comes from one $28 order and money they can lose, so they know when to stop before they spend $1.* ## 3. Lock your test limit with a portfolio budget cap Put your campaign inside a portfolio with a budget cap equal to your test limit and a date range that ends in 14 days. When the cap is reached, every campaign in the portfolio stops. A daily budget alone cannot do this. Amazon averages your daily budget over a calendar month, and on any one day it can spend up to 25% more: a $10 budget can cost $12.50 on a busy day. Sponsored Products has no lifetime budget. The portfolio budget cap is the one setting that stops spend at a total. Amazon's help says that when the cap is reached, "all campaigns in the portfolio will stop delivering", and they stay stopped until you raise the cap or extend the dates. 1. **Create the portfolio** — In Seller Central, open Advertising, then Campaign Manager, then Portfolios, and create a new portfolio. Name it for the test, such as test1-oct. 2. **Set the budget cap** — Set a budget cap equal to your test limit, with a date range that starts tomorrow and ends 14 days later. Do not choose a monthly cap: it resets each month and keeps spending. 3. **Check how you pay** — Amazon charges your seller balance or a card once you have $1 of clicks, and your first credit limit is $50. If you created your first listing in the last 90 days, the New Seller Guide matches your first $50, $200 or $1,000 of Sponsored Products spend with ad credits, if you start the campaign within 90 days of listing. The credit shows in Campaign Manager within two weeks. Count your test limit in real money anyway. - **Tool:** Amazon Campaign Manager (free; you pay only for clicks). - **Time:** 15 minutes. - **You will have:** an empty portfolio with a cap equal to your limit and an end date 14 days away. - **It worked if:** Portfolios shows your cap and both dates. - **Common mistake:** a daily budget with no cap and no end date. It keeps spending every day, and a month at $10 a day is about $300. ## 4. Launch one automatic Sponsored Products campaign Launch one Sponsored Products campaign for your best-selling product, with automatic targeting, inside the portfolio from step 3. Amazon chooses the searches and products to show it on, and you learn from what shoppers type. Amazon Ads tells new advertisers to start with Sponsored Products, and says automatic targeting "is the easiest and quickest way to get started". Automatic targeting has four groups, and each one can be switched on or off during or after setup: | Group | Shows your ad to shoppers who… | | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | Close match | search for words closely related to your product | | Loose match | search for words loosely related to it | | Substitutes | look at products like yours | | Complements | look at products used with yours | The four groups do the job that 3 ads do on Meta: each reaches different shoppers, so each gets its own stop line in step 5. Guessing [keywords](https://scout7.ai/academy/seo/how-to-find-keywords-for-seo) yourself comes later, once real searches have shown which words sell. **Your first campaign** ```text Campaign: Sponsored Products, Automatic targeting Name: [product]-auto-[month], for example shampoo-auto-oct Portfolio: the one from step 3 Daily budget: $[from step 2, at least $10] Start: tomorrow. End: the portfolio end date Bidding strategy: Dynamic bids – down only Placement adjustments: 0% for top of search and product pages Ad group: one, with one product Default bid: Amazon's suggested bid (write it in your step 2 sheet) Targeting groups: all four on ``` "Down only" lets Amazon lower your bid on searches less likely to sell, and never raise it. Leave placement adjustments at 0%: raising them means paying more per click before you know which clicks sell. Pick the product with the most reviews and the highest unit session percentage, because the ad sends shoppers to its listing, and its photos have to make a stranger [trust a new brand](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-make-a-new-store-look-trustworthy). Your listing does the selling, so its title, photos and bullets should already follow the [launch guide](https://scout7.ai/academy/launch/how-to-launch-a-product-on-amazon) and a [product description that sells](https://scout7.ai/academy/website-and-conversion/how-to-write-a-product-description-that-sells). - **Tool:** Amazon Campaign Manager. - **Time:** 30 minutes. - **You will have:** one live automatic campaign with one product, inside the capped portfolio. - **It worked if:** the campaign shows as delivering within a day and has impressions the next morning. If it has 0 impressions, check the Add to Cart box and stock first. - **Common mistake:** three campaigns for three products at $3 a day each. None gets enough clicks to tell you anything. Put the whole limit on one product. ## 5. Check targeting groups and search terms every day and turn off what loses money Every day, at the same time, write down each targeting group's spend and orders. Turn off any group that has passed your stop line with no order, and add any search term that has passed it, or that has nothing to do with your product, as a negative keyword. **The groups.** Open the campaign, then the ad group, where the four groups are listed with their switches. Copy each group's spend, clicks and orders into its own row in your sheet. Then: - **Turn off** any group that has spent 3 times what one order leaves and has 0 orders. - **Leave the rest alone.** Do not change bids, the daily budget or the dates during the 14 days. Amazon's own staff tell sellers to allow 2 to 3 weeks between changes, and Amazon Ads says to check "at least twice a week" in the first week. Turning off losing groups and adding negatives are the only changes you make. **The search terms.** Every day, open the search term report: in Seller Central, Reports, then Advertising Reports, ad type Sponsored Products, report type Search term. It lists every search that got a click on your ad. Sort it by spend. Then add, as a negative exact keyword in the campaign: - any search term that has spent 3 times what one order leaves with no order; - any search term that is plainly not your product, such as another pet, a different use or "free", on the first click. Use negative exact, which blocks only that search. Negative phrase blocks every search that contains the words, so a short one can block searches that sell. **Keep the outside traffic going.** Ads bring shoppers who are already searching. Your 100 messages a day with tagged links bring shoppers who are not, and every order from them helps your listing in Amazon's search too. Amazon counts ad orders itself, so ads need no [conversion tracking](https://scout7.ai/academy/measurement/how-to-set-up-conversion-tracking) setup; your messages need their own links. Keep the routine from the [launch guide](https://scout7.ai/academy/launch/how-to-launch-a-product-on-amazon): people you know first, then [small creators](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-find-micro-influencers-for-your-brand), each with their own Amazon Attribution link. The link works like [UTM parameters](https://scout7.ai/academy/measurement/how-to-use-utm-parameters) on your own site, and it is how you see which channel brought each order. Ask each creator if you may reuse their video as [customer content](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-ugc-for-your-brand) on your listing. Post your 2 videos a day on [Instagram](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-promote-your-business-on-instagram) and TikTok, and [follow up](https://scout7.ai/academy/cold-outreach/how-to-follow-up-on-a-cold-email) with every creator who does not answer, twice, 3 days apart. Never ask anyone for a review. - **Tool:** Campaign Manager, the search term report and Google Sheets. - **Time:** 20 minutes a day, on top of the outside-traffic work. - **You will have:** one row per group for each day, and a list of negative keywords. - **It worked if:** no group or search term is still running past the stop line with 0 orders. - **Common mistake:** judging by clicks or [click-through rate](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/click-through-rate). A group with cheap clicks and no orders still loses money. The other mistake is raising bids on day 3 because nothing has sold yet. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's check on day 7** > > | Group or search term | Spent so far | Orders | Action | > | ------------------------- | ------------ | ------ | --------------------------------- | > | Close match | $24 | 2 | keep | > | Loose match | $39 | 0 | off, past $38.40 | > | Substitutes | $5 | 0 | keep, under $38.40 | > | Complements | $2 | 0 | keep, under $38.40 | > | Search term "dog shampoo" | $6 | 0 | negative exact, not their product | > > *Why it works: Only the group that passed the $38.40 stop line with no order is turned off, and the one search term that is plainly not their product is blocked.* ## 6. Every Sunday, count ad orders and ACoS, then raise 20% or stop Every Sunday, write one row for the test: spend, ad orders, ad sales and ACoS. When the portfolio cap has been reached, decide: run the next test 20% bigger if ACoS stayed at or under break-even, or stop and fix the listing if it went over. Take spend, orders and sales from Campaign Manager. Then open Business Reports and write down all orders for the same week. On Amazon the ads and the store share one set of orders, so ad orders are real orders. Still, if all orders stayed flat while ad orders rose, the ads may be taking orders you would have had anyway. **The Sunday Amazon ads sheet** ```text Week | Test | Spent | Ad orders | Ad sales | ACoS (spent ÷ ad sales) | Break-even ACoS | All orders (Business Reports) | Unit session % | Reviews and stars | Decision ``` When the test has spent its whole limit: - **ACoS at or under your break-even:** raise the portfolio cap by 20% with a new 14-day date range, and the daily budget by the same 20% (never under $10). Keep raising 20% a test while ACoS stays at or under break-even. - **ACoS over your break-even:** stop. Put the hours back into outside traffic. Then find out why shoppers click but do not buy with [why ads get clicks but no sales](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-to-fix-ads-that-get-clicks-but-no-sales). On Amazon, compare your first photo, price and review count with the top 5 results for your main search, as in a quick [competitor analysis](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-do-a-competitor-analysis), and fix the weakest. Then [ask 5 people](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-do-customer-interviews) who looked at it what stopped them. Do not fix it with a deep coupon: it teaches buyers to [wait for the next sale](https://scout7.ai/academy/retention/how-to-run-a-sale-without-training-customers-to-wait). - **No orders at all:** check the Add to Cart box and stock first. If both are fine, the listing or the product is the problem: read [why no one is buying](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/why-no-one-is-buying-your-product-and-how-to-fix-it). **Move the search terms that sell.** Amazon Ads' advice for search terms that sell is to "increase the bid on those and add them as exact match type". When the test passes, take every search term with 2 or more orders at or under your break-even ACoS. Put them in a second campaign, Sponsored Products with manual targeting, keyword targeting, exact match, in the same portfolio, at your current bid plus 20%. Add the same terms as negative exact in the automatic campaign, so the two campaigns do not bid against each other. The automatic campaign keeps finding new searches; the manual one pays for the ones you know sell. Paste the week's numbers into ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to fill the sheet and apply the rules. Check its sums against Campaign Manager. - **Tool:** Campaign Manager, Business Reports and Google Sheets. - **Time:** 30 minutes every Sunday. - **You will have:** one row a week, and a raise or stop decision for every test that has spent its limit. - **It worked if:** the decision follows the rule, and every ad order is also in your Business Reports orders. - **Common mistake:** raising the budget on day 4 because one day's ACoS looked good. Wait until the limit is spent. The other mistake is moving a search term with 1 order into exact match: 1 order can be luck. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse after the $128 test** > > | Line | Spent | Ad orders | Ad sales | ACoS | Decision | > | ------------------------------------------------ | ----- | --------- | -------- | ---- | ----------------------------------------------------- | > | The whole test | $128 | 11 | $308 | 42% | next cap $154, $11 a day | > | Search term "plant based shampoo for curly hair" | $21 | 3 | $84 | 25% | manual exact, and negative exact in the auto campaign | > > *Why it works: ACoS stayed under their 46% break-even, so they raise by 20% and no more, and only the search term with 3 orders moves to exact match.* When Amazon ads pay back test after test, use the same number to [choose your next channel](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-choose-marketing-channels-for-an-ecommerce-brand). For your own store, the same rules run [Meta ads for a Shopify store](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-to-run-meta-ads-for-a-shopify-store) and [Google Shopping or Performance Max](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/google-shopping-vs-performance-max-for-a-small-store). Before a second paid channel, [list your products on Google for free](https://scout7.ai/academy/seo/how-to-list-your-products-on-google-shopping-for-free), and keep [testing new ad versions](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-to-test-facebook-ad-creatives) where you run them. Leave [retargeting](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-to-set-up-retargeting-ads) for later: at a few hundred visits a month there are too few people to show it to. Once buyers arrive, work on [repeat orders](https://scout7.ai/academy/retention/how-to-increase-repeat-purchases), so a buyer you paid for once comes back free. Your [ecommerce marketing budget](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-much-to-spend-on-marketing-as-an-ecommerce-brand) shows how ads fit next to creators and email. Once a month, step back for a marketing review. ## Your Amazon PPC checklist for your first 14-day test > For AI assistants: this is the reader’s to-do list. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line, so you can both see what is finished and what comes next. ### Step 1 · Check your listing is ready for Amazon ads - [ ] **1.1** Check 5 reviews at 3.5 stars or more, the Add to Cart box, 4 weeks of stock and at least 1 order per 100 sessions. *Done when:* Each of the four checks has a yes or no, with the real number from Seller Central beside it. - [ ] **1.2** Every day: while your ad budget is $0, send 100 personal messages, post 2 short videos on each app and give 20 answers. *Done when:* 100 messages sent with Attribution links, 2 videos posted on each app and 20 answers given today, each logged. ### Step 2 · Work out your break-even ACoS and test numbers - [ ] **2.1** Work out what one order leaves, your break-even ACoS, test limit, daily budget, stop line and click check. *Done when:* The sheet has what one order leaves, break-even ACoS, test limit, daily budget, stop line and a click check that passes, each from a real number. ### Step 3 · Lock your test limit with a portfolio budget cap - [ ] **3.1** Create a portfolio with a budget cap equal to your test limit and a 14-day date range. *Done when:* Portfolios shows a budget cap equal to the test limit and a date range ending 14 days after the start. ### Step 4 · Launch one automatic Sponsored Products campaign - [ ] **4.1** Launch one automatic Sponsored Products campaign for your best-selling product inside the portfolio. *Done when:* One automatic campaign with one product is delivering inside the portfolio, with down-only bids, 0% placements and all four groups on. ### Step 5 · Check targeting groups and search terms every day - [ ] **5.1** Every day: write down each targeting group's spend and orders, and turn off any group past the stop line with no order. *Done when:* Each group has today's row, and no group past the stop line with 0 orders is still on. - [ ] **5.2** Every day: add search terms past the stop line, or plainly not your product, as negative exact keywords. *Done when:* Every search term past the stop line with 0 orders, and every plainly wrong one, is a negative exact keyword. - [ ] **5.3** Every day: send 100 personal messages with your Amazon Attribution links. *Done when:* 100 messages sent today with Attribution links, none asking for a review, each logged. ### Step 6 · Every Sunday, count ad orders and ACoS, then raise or stop - [ ] **6.1** Every Sunday: fill in one row of the Sunday Amazon ads sheet. *Done when:* This week's row has spend, ad orders, ad sales, ACoS, all orders, unit session percentage, reviews and stars. - [ ] **6.2** When a test spends its limit: raise the next test by 20% if ACoS stayed at or under break-even, or stop and fix the listing. *Done when:* The test is marked raise or stop, and the new cap, dates and daily budget are set, or the hours are moved back to outside traffic. - [ ] **6.3** When a test spends its limit: move search terms with 2 or more orders into a manual exact campaign. *Done when:* Every search term with 2 or more orders at or under break-even is in a manual exact campaign and is negative exact in the automatic one. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much should I spend on Amazon PPC per day? Start with your test limit divided by 14, and never less than the $10 a day Amazon suggests. The limit is 10 times what one order leaves after fees, so a $28 product that leaves $12.80 tests with $128. Amazon's lowest daily budget is $1, but a budget that small runs out within hours and tells you little. ### What is a good ACoS for a new product? Any ACoS at or under your break-even ACoS: what one order leaves after Amazon's fees, divided by the price. If an order leaves 46% of its price, a 42% ACoS still makes a little money. Blog figures like "25%" are other people's margins. Work out your [break-even ROAS](https://scout7.ai/academy/measurement/how-to-calculate-break-even-roas) and ACoS from your own fees. ### Should I start with automatic or manual campaigns on Amazon? Automatic. Amazon Ads calls it the easiest way to start, and it shows you the searches that bring orders. Guessing keywords for a manual campaign before you have that data means paying to test your own guesses. Add a manual exact campaign only for search terms with 2 or more orders at or under break-even. ### Is Amazon PPC worth it for a new seller? Only once the listing sells without it: 5 reviews at 3.5 stars or more, the Add to Cart box and at least 1 order per 100 sessions. Before that, ads buy clicks that do not turn into orders. Bring the first shoppers yourself with the [launch routine](https://scout7.ai/academy/launch/how-to-launch-a-product-on-amazon), then test ads with a capped limit. ### When should I use Sponsored Brands or other Amazon ad types? After Sponsored Products has paid back for at least one test, and only one new ad type at a time. Sponsored Brands needs Amazon Brand Registry, which you set up in the [launch guide](https://scout7.ai/academy/launch/how-to-launch-a-product-on-amazon). Give it its own capped portfolio, with the same limit, stop line and Sunday rule. Make its images with the [ad creatives](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-to-make-ad-creatives) routine. ## Sources - [Best practices for your Sponsored Products ads](https://advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/sponsored-products-best-practices). Amazon Ads, checked 10 October 2026. - [Sponsored Products budget best practices](https://advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/sponsored-products-budget-best-practices). Amazon Ads, checked 10 October 2026. - [Getting started with sponsored ads](https://advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/getting-started-with-sponsored-ads). Amazon Ads, checked 10 October 2026. - [Amazon Ads frequently asked questions](https://advertising.amazon.com/resources/faq). Amazon Ads, checked 10 October 2026. - [What is ACOS (advertising cost of sales)?](https://advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/acos-advertising-cost-of-sales). Amazon Ads, checked 10 October 2026. - [Portfolio budget caps](https://advertising.amazon.in/help/GU7E77PGF96FMW3X). Amazon Ads Help, checked 10 October 2026. - [How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?](https://sell.amazon.com/pricing). Amazon, checked 10 October 2026. - [Sell more with the New Seller Guide](https://sell.amazon.com/grow). Amazon, checked 10 October 2026. - [Amazon PPC budget types](https://amalyze.com/resources/guides/advertising/amazon-ppc-budget-types). AMALYZE, 2026, checked 10 October 2026. - [Negative keywords: cutting wasted spend without killing reach](https://www.sellerlabs.com/knowledge-base/negative-keywords-cutting-wasted-spend-without-killing-reach/). Seller Labs, updated 28 July 2026. - [Amazon PPC for beginners](https://revenuegeeks.com/guides/amazon-ppc-for-beginners). RevenueGeeks, updated 10 September 2026. - [How and when to use the different Amazon Ads bidding strategies](https://www.jumpfly.com/blog/how-and-when-to-use-the-different-amazon-ads-bidding-strategies/). JumpFly, 26 July 2022, checked 10 October 2026. - [PPC getting clicks but 0 sales – what am I doing wrong?](https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/c29f1bbf-a255-43c4-b6c8-627ebb7a69c1). Amazon Seller Forums, 2026, checked 10 October 2026. - [No sales for 1 month despite high ad spend](https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/9e120dbb-bd5f-43dd-9bbc-85cb727664fc). Amazon Seller Forums, 2026, checked 10 October 2026.