A realistic first advertising budget for an online shop
An advertising test should answer a question that matters to your store. Spending simply to generate traffic can hide whether those visitors produce orders you can fulfil profitably.
Define the test before launch
Choose one product, audience and offer. Record the selling price and the costs attached to each order, including fulfilment and likely returns. The amount remaining before advertising is not the same as final profit, but it helps you understand what an acquired order can support.
Cap the downside
Set a spending limit and an end date you can afford. Avoid increasing the budget just because a campaign has a promising first day. Small samples can fluctuate, and reported conversions can arrive late or be counted differently across tools. Document the attribution setting used in your report.
Judge more than clicks
Review the landing page, add-to-cart activity and completed orders together. If visitors arrive but cannot understand delivery terms, more traffic may amplify the problem. Change one major variable at a time so the next test is interpretable. Keep a short record of the hypothesis, spend, result and decision. No campaign setup guarantees sales; the value of a limited test is learning at a cost your business can tolerate.
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