/General Questions
Question
How much budget do I realistically need to find a “winning product”?
Posted by •11/9/2025
Beginner question but I really need some honest perspective.
I keep hearing things like:
- “You only need $5/day to test”
- “You need at least $2k–$3k to take this seriously”
- “You can test a product with $100”
I don't know who to believe.
My situation:
- I can put aside around $400–$600 over the next 2 months
- I work full-time so it's not like I can dump thousands in
- I'm fine with losing some money to learn, but I don't want to burn it blindly
I'm mainly planning to use Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ads.
For people who are actually profitable now:
1. What's a realistic range of ad budget to properly test **one** product?
2. How many products would you try with $500 total?
3. Is it even worth starting if I don't have $2k–$3k right now, or is that just guru talk?
I'm not looking for a magic number, I just want a **realistic** idea so I don't either over-commit or under-commit.
I keep hearing things like:
- “You only need $5/day to test”
- “You need at least $2k–$3k to take this seriously”
- “You can test a product with $100”
I don't know who to believe.
My situation:
- I can put aside around $400–$600 over the next 2 months
- I work full-time so it's not like I can dump thousands in
- I'm fine with losing some money to learn, but I don't want to burn it blindly
I'm mainly planning to use Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ads.
For people who are actually profitable now:
1. What's a realistic range of ad budget to properly test **one** product?
2. How many products would you try with $500 total?
3. Is it even worth starting if I don't have $2k–$3k right now, or is that just guru talk?
I'm not looking for a magic number, I just want a **realistic** idea so I don't either over-commit or under-commit.
2 Replies
•11/9/2025
I started with ~€450 and made it work, but only after I stopped chasing 10 products at once.
What I’d add:
- Treat your first $200–$300 as “education budget”
- Your goal isn’t pure profit, it’s to:
- Learn what good metrics look like (CTR, CPC, ATC)
- See if your **store** can convert at all
- If you get **no** sales and terrible metrics after 300–400 visitors, it's not a budget issue, it's a product/store issue.
Yes, it’s worth starting with $400–$600 **as long as** you accept:
- You might not be profitable on product #1
- The game is to learn fast and not repeat the same mistakes on product #2.
What I’d add:
- Treat your first $200–$300 as “education budget”
- Your goal isn’t pure profit, it’s to:
- Learn what good metrics look like (CTR, CPC, ATC)
- See if your **store** can convert at all
- If you get **no** sales and terrible metrics after 300–400 visitors, it's not a budget issue, it's a product/store issue.
Yes, it’s worth starting with $400–$600 **as long as** you accept:
- You might not be profitable on product #1
- The game is to learn fast and not repeat the same mistakes on product #2.
•11/9/2025
Here's the non-guru answer:
You don't need $5k, but you also won't “test 10 products” with $100 each and magically find a winner.
Think about it like this:
To get a **rough** idea if a product has potential, you want:
- ~300–500 targeted visitors to your product page
If your CPC is $0.50–$1.00 (normal on Meta for most niches), that's:
- $150–$500 in ad spend **per product**
So with $500 total:
- You can **properly** test 1–2 products
- Or you can **half-test** 5 products and learn almost nothing
If I were you with $400–$600:
- I'd commit to **1 strong product**
- Spend ~$250–$350 testing it over 2–3 weeks
- Spend the rest on improving creatives + store (not new products)
The real “budget” problem for beginners isn't the number, it's this:
They spread a small budget over too many products and get shallow data everywhere.
Deep test > wide test.
You don't need $5k, but you also won't “test 10 products” with $100 each and magically find a winner.
Think about it like this:
To get a **rough** idea if a product has potential, you want:
- ~300–500 targeted visitors to your product page
If your CPC is $0.50–$1.00 (normal on Meta for most niches), that's:
- $150–$500 in ad spend **per product**
So with $500 total:
- You can **properly** test 1–2 products
- Or you can **half-test** 5 products and learn almost nothing
If I were you with $400–$600:
- I'd commit to **1 strong product**
- Spend ~$250–$350 testing it over 2–3 weeks
- Spend the rest on improving creatives + store (not new products)
The real “budget” problem for beginners isn't the number, it's this:
They spread a small budget over too many products and get shallow data everywhere.
Deep test > wide test.