Aim for at least a 4x markup — anything below 3x rarely survives ad costs. At 3x, your gross margin is 67% — which sounds great until you add CAC, shipping, and refunds.
A product viable without ads is always more resilient. If the numbers only work with a specific ROAS, you're one algorithm change away from losing your margins. Organic viability is your safety net.
High refund rates kill otherwise profitable products. Research category-average return rates before committing — a 20% refund rate on a 30% margin product means you're often losing money on returns.
Don't forget shipping weight and dimensions. A product that looks profitable at $8 COGS can become unviable once dimensional weight pricing adds $6–12 in shipping costs.