UK merch ads opened to Rest of World: ROAS 2.03 on £5,891
Commentary byROASArchiveOur analysis, not theirsA UK merch seller in @SamPiliero's community started advertising to Rest of World countries and reports £5,891 spend for £11,931 in purchases, a ROAS of 2.03. The seller calls it profitable but thin, and says more than £700 went to countries that didn't buy or bought at too low a ROAS. @SamPiliero shared the post on X.
- Spend since 1 January: £5,891. Purchases: £11,931. ROAS: 2.03.
- ROAS was higher earlier and has started to drop, per the seller. Budget increases may be part of that.
- Over £700 went to countries that didn't buy or bought at too low a ROAS.
- Profit is described as small at 2 ROAS, because of international postage and the cost of the merch. No margin figures are shared.
The change
Before
The seller already sold in the UK. Europe was left out because of postage problems, and the US because, in the seller's words, buyers there had stopped buying UK goods.
After
After a call with @SamPiliero, the seller opened a Meta campaign to every other country Royal Mail ships to, now at £150 a day. The main buyers turned out to be Australia, Canada, New Zealand and a few smaller places.
Our reading: why it likely came out this way
Our interpretation, not the advertiser's claim.
- New countries opened a fresh pool of buyers who had not seen the ads, which helped the early ROAS.
- A broad Rest of World setup lets Meta spend in places that never convert, so some waste is built in until you cut them.
- The falling ROAS fits a common pattern where the cheapest buyers are reached first and budget increases push into weaker ones.
Caveats: This is one campaign with no control and no split test, reported by the seller in a community post with the name blurred. The period runs from 1 January, but the year, purchase count and margin per order are not shown. The geo-trimming idea was still a plan, so its effect is not measured.
How to run this in your account
- Hypothesis
- If we limit a Rest of World campaign to countries that have bought at a sensible ROAS, then blended ROAS will rise because spend stops going to countries that don't convert.
- Primary metric
- ROAS
- Guardrails
- Purchase volume
- Spend per country
- Cost of shipping per order
- Who should try it
- Sellers already running a broad international campaign with a few months of country-level data. It probably won't help if postage costs make the far countries unprofitable at any ROAS.
Questions
Should I advertise to Rest of World on Meta?
It can open new buyers. This UK merch seller reached ROAS 2.03 on £5,891, but the margin was thin because of international postage.
How do I stop Meta ads wasting spend in countries that don't buy?
Check results by country, then keep only the ones with sales at a sensible ROAS.
This seller found over £700 had gone to countries that didn't buy or bought at too low a ROAS.
Is a 2 ROAS profitable for merch?
It depends on product and shipping costs. This seller says 2 ROAS made a profit, but not much, once postage and merch costs came off.