ACOS vs TACOS: What Is a Good ACOS on Amazon?

ACOS tells you how much you spend to earn a dollar from ads. TACOS tells you how much you spend against your whole business. Sellers who track only one of them tend to make worse budget decisions, so here is how each works, how they differ, and how to set a target that fits your margins.

By the Numbers: ACOS and TACOS Benchmarks

There is no single good ACOS, but public benchmarks give useful ranges. AdBadger puts the overall average ACOS at 30.4%, Xnurta shows category ranges from 13% to 38%, and EightX compiles TACOS ranges by growth stage. Use them as starting points, then compare against your own break even.

Sources do not always agree: AdBadger shows electronics ACOS near 24%, while Xnurta shows 13% to 21%. That is normal when benchmarks come from different samples. The number that matters is your break even. EightX gives a worked example: a $30 product with $8 cost of goods, a $4.50 referral fee and a $5.50 fulfillment fee leaves $12, so break even is 40%. Set your target below that by the margin you want to keep.

What Is ACOS on Amazon?

ACOS stands for Advertising Cost of Sales. It is your ad spend divided by the sales your ads are credited with, shown as a percentage.

ACOS = ad spend ÷ ad-attributed sales × 100. If you spend $300 on ads and Amazon credits those ads with $1,500 in sales, your ACOS is 20%. The inverse metric is ROAS, return on ad spend: $1,500 ÷ $300 is 5.0x. A lower ACOS means each dollar of ad sales costs you less in advertising. The example figures in this section and the next are illustrative.

What Is TACOS?

TACOS stands for Total Advertising Cost of Sales. Instead of dividing by ad-attributed sales, it divides ad spend by your total sales, which includes organic sales as well.

TACOS = ad spend ÷ total sales × 100. Using the same $300 of ad spend, if your total sales for the month were $6,000, your TACOS is 5%, even though your ACOS is 20%.

ACOS vs TACOS: What Each Metric Tells You

What Is a Good ACOS on Amazon?

There is no single good ACOS. The right number depends on your margin, your goal and where the product is in its life.

The cleanest starting point is your break-even ACOS, which equals your profit margin before ad spend. If you keep 30 cents of every sales dollar before advertising, a 30% ACOS breaks even. Anything lower makes money on the ad sale, and anything higher loses money on it, unless that sale builds rank or repeat purchases that pay back later.

That is why launch campaigns often run at a higher ACOS than mature ones, and why a high ACOS is not automatically a problem.

Here is what ACOS looked like across six of our own case studies. These are single accounts with different margins, competition and goals, so treat them as examples, not benchmarks:

• Electronics: 4.28% ACOS, against a target of under 5%
• Automotive and truck accessories: 11.17% ACOS on high-ticket products
• Fitness and sports equipment: 9.90% ACOS with a 10.10x return
• Office supplies: 19.26% ACOS while monthly sales grew 210%
• Beauty and personal care: 29.99% ACOS while monthly sales grew 73%
• Health and household: 36.35% ACOS in October, down from 43.18% in September, with monthly sales up 82% since May

A 4% ACOS and a 36% ACOS can both be right, depending on the product margin and what the account was trying to achieve.

How to Set Your ACOS Target

Common ACOS and TACOS Mistakes

Sources and Further Reading

Statistics in this guide were checked on October 24, 2026. Follow the links to read the original data.

• AdBadger, 2025 Amazon benchmarking insights
• Xnurta, Amazon ACOS benchmarks by industry
• EightX, average TACOS benchmarks

Final Thoughts

ACOS shows how efficient a campaign is. TACOS shows whether advertising is making the whole business healthier. Set your target from your own margin, check both numbers regularly, and judge every account against its own goals.

Want a second opinion on your numbers? Our Amazon PPC management services start with a free audit, and our Amazon PPC case studies show what we have done in real accounts.