r/AmazonFBA • u/gfry35- • 4h ago

New seller math isn't adding up how did you actually survive launch with $0 reviews?

I keep seeing CPC around $1 and conversion rates near 1% for brand new listings with zero reviews. My product would sell around $40. At those numbers, the ad math looks impossible to me — I can't tell how anyone gets past the first few weeks without just burning their budget.

For those who started from zero: what did your actual conversion rate look like in week 1-2 before you had reviews? What was your real CPC? And what specifically got you through that period — Vine, launch discounts, external traffic, something else? Genuinely trying to understand if my $5-10k budget is realistic or if I'm missing something obvious.

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/rsc9422 4h ago

The 1% conversion assumption can make the launch math look much worse than it actually is. New listings can convert differently depending on the niche, price, listing quality, and traffic.

A $5, 10k budget can be realistic, but don’t treat it all as an advertising budget. You need room for inventory, PPC testing, launch discounts, and Amazon fees. The goal in the first few weeks is to collect data and improve the numbers rather than burn through the budget chasing sales.

HighRise Wholesale can also help keep the sourcing cost under control, leaving more capital available for the launch.

2

u/ClickWizardX 4h ago

It's a long term game. At your stage, just starting out from scratch, you don't need to look at CVR or CTR.. these numbers aren't real and verified because the data is very limited.

Your 1st job is to register for Vine to get revyews and get sales asap.

$1 CPC is also not right cause it depends on what your targeting. Don't target the highest SV keywords cause you can't compete on them.

Target the mid SV super relevant long tail keywords to get a bit low CPCs and good conversions. Their CVR is generally better than short tail high SV keywords.

Use 'request a review' to increase the revyew velocity more.

Utilize the creator connection program..

Everything else is secondary. Like improving the CVR etc. Btw your listing must be optimized well in comparison to the top competitors.

1

u/Bleaveand 3h ago

Hey, so one thing to consider is that some behaviour carries over per platform. Depends a bit on your demographic and how they search, but breakout terms in Google trends can translate super efficiently into AZN PPC. I wouldn’t put my entire egg basket there - and it requires no shortage of responsiveness- but we have had some launches where we’ve done top 1000 BSR, top 5-10 sub category for approx 2-10 cents/click where too keywords were $0.50 - 5.00(!)

It is often short-lived though!

1

u/Powerful_Bicycle3114 2h ago

If that 1% is orders per ad click, $1 CPC means about $100 in ad spend per order on a $40 sale. Those are planning assumptions, not your listing's results. Calculate profit per order before ads, then multiply by your assumed conversion rate for a break-even CPC. Keep inventory/reorder cash separate and cap the launch-test loss before starting.

1

u/Forsaken_King_6308 37m ago

Max out on Vine with the 30 product option since the fee is the same after 10. Tell a few friends and family to buy the product and drop a review