u/Careless-Buy-6199

Full timeline, no sugarcoating: Weeks 1-5: Ran ATC-optimized campaigns across multiple creative angles, ~$650 spent. Decent engagement throughout (CTR 10-17%, cost-per-click $0.50-1). Got 26 Add-to-Carts. But the site had an actual cart bug during this period (double add-to-carts, broken checkout flow in some sessions), so I don't fully trust that data. Then I fixed the bug, rebuilt the landing page from scratch, and tried Purchase-optimization for 3 days. Day 1 looked great (CTR 3.3%, $0.69 CPC). Days 2-3 CPC spiked to $5-10, so I killed it — reasoning that with zero purchase history ever, I'd never hit Meta's ~50 weekly events to exit learning anyway. Went back to ATC with my two historical best creatives on July 19th. Here's the honest breakdown of that window: - July 19-20 (2 days): still running against the OLD cart logic (a cross-sell item was quietly inflating perceived price ~25%, and the checkout wasn't showing "free shipping" clearly until after address entry) - July 21 (Monday): fixed both issues — removed the confusing cross-sell, made shipping cost/timing explicit upfront - July 21-23 (since the fix, so really only 2-3 clean days): this is the actual test of the "fixed" funnel Cumulative since July 19th: $154 spent, 26 Add-to-Carts, 11 Initiate-Checkouts (33-42% cart-to-checkout, better than I expected), still zero purchases. But only about half of that window is genuinely "post-fix" — so my real clean sample is smaller than the headline numbers suggest. What I've ruled out: checkout technically works (real test purchase completed, Purchase event fires correctly), all major payment methods present, shipping is genuinely free and now clearly shown upfront with delivery time (7-12 business days). What I'm weighing right now, two real paths: Path A: Stay on ATC, let the truly clean-funnel data accumulate a few more days before judging anything (told the real statistical threshold before "structural problem" is 35-40 clean Add-to-Carts — I'm not there yet, especially counting only post-fix days). Path B: Switch to Purchase-optimization now, on the genuinely clean funnel — something I haven't actually tested yet, since my 3-day Purchase attempt happened BEFORE the cart fix. Run it a full 7 days without touching it, accept lower volume for higher intent. Site is tryflowra.com if it helps to see the actual funnel instead of just numbers. If you've run into this exact fork — clean funnel, decent ATC signal, zero purchases — which path would you take and why?

Running a Shopify dropshipping store, live for about 6 weeks now. Here's the full picture, trying to be as transparent as possible because I'm genuinely stuck.

Timeline:
First 4-5 weeks: ran ATC-optimized campaigns, ~$650 spent total across multiple ad sets and creative angles. Decent engagement the whole time (best cost-per-link-click around $0.70-1, CTR in the 10-17% range depending on the creative). Got 26 real Add-to-Carts. But the site had an actual cart bug during this period — some sessions had broken checkout flow, double add-to-carts — so I don't fully trust that data.

Fixed the bug, rebuilt the entire landing page from scratch (long-form advertorial style, follows a structured copywriting framework), then tested Purchase-optimization for 3 days on the clean setup. Day 1 was great (CTR 3.3%, $0.69 CPC). Day 2-3 the CPC spiked hard ($5-10), so I killed it — with zero purchase history ever, I figured I'd never hit the ~50 weekly events needed to exit learning on that objective anyway.

Went back to ATC on the clean funnel with my two historical best creatives (a receipt-style static image and a UGC testimonial video, both previously proven at $0.65-0.81 cost-per-click). Less than 3 days in on this clean run: CTR 16-19% and 9-11% on the two ad sets, CPC $0.50-0.70, already 14+ Add-to-Carts.

The actual problem: Still zero purchases. Not one, ever, across any campaign, any angle, in 6 weeks.

What I've already ruled out:

• Checkout technically works — I've done a full real test purchase myself, completed it, and confirmed the Purchase event fires correctly in the pixel.
• Payment methods are all there (Apple Pay, PayPal, Google Pay, cards), Shop Pay express checkout available.
• The brand shows correctly at checkout (logo, not generic).
• Shipping cost/policy is clearly communicated on-site and on the landing page, not a surprise at checkout.
• I checked the cart→checkout funnel breakdown recently: out of ~52 sessions, 19% added to cart, but only ~6% even reached checkout — so there's a real drop-off between cart and checkout start, not just at the final payment step. I just found and fixed one likely cause (a cross-sell item in the cart drawer that was confusing about what's already included in the main product, which was quietly increasing the perceived price by ~25% for anyone who added it), plus fixed a discount threshold that wasn't applying to single-item purchases. Too early to know if this moves the needle.

Constraints:

• Meta account is capped at ~$40/day total (business verification not possible right now on my end), so I can't just "spend more to get more data" as a lever.
• Limited overall budget, so I can't afford months of pure trial and error.

What I'm trying to figure out: is this still a volume issue (too few Add-to-Carts to expect a statistically meaningful number of purchases yet), a trust gap specific to checkout for a new/unknown brand, or something in the offer itself that Add-to-Cart behavior doesn't reveal? Genuinely not sure where to focus next, and would rather ask people who've actually dealt with this than guess.

If you've been through something similar — where did the real problem end up being, and how did you find it?

Running a Shopify dropshipping store, live for about 6 weeks now. Here's the full picture, trying to be as transparent as possible because I'm genuinely stuck.

Timeline:
First 4-5 weeks: ran ATC-optimized campaigns, ~$650 spent total across multiple ad sets and creative angles. Decent engagement the whole time (best cost-per-link-click around $0.70-1, CTR in the 10-17% range depending on the creative). Got 26 real Add-to-Carts. But the site had an actual cart bug during this period — some sessions had broken checkout flow, double add-to-carts — so I don't fully trust that data.

Fixed the bug, rebuilt the entire landing page from scratch (long-form advertorial style, follows a structured copywriting framework), then tested Purchase-optimization for 3 days on the clean setup. Day 1 was great (CTR 3.3%, $0.69 CPC). Day 2-3 the CPC spiked hard ($5-10), so I killed it — with zero purchase history ever, I figured I'd never hit the ~50 weekly events needed to exit learning on that objective anyway.

Went back to ATC on the clean funnel with my two historical best creatives (a receipt-style static image and a UGC testimonial video, both previously proven at $0.65-0.81 cost-per-click). Less than 3 days in on this clean run: CTR 16-19% and 9-11% on the two ad sets, CPC $0.50-0.70, already 14+ Add-to-Carts.

The actual problem: Still zero purchases. Not one, ever, across any campaign, any angle, in 6 weeks.

What I've already ruled out:

• Checkout technically works — I've done a full real test purchase myself, completed it, and confirmed the Purchase event fires correctly in the pixel.
• Payment methods are all there (Apple Pay, PayPal, Google Pay, cards), Shop Pay express checkout available.
• The brand shows correctly at checkout (logo, not generic).
• Shipping cost/policy is clearly communicated on-site and on the landing page, not a surprise at checkout.
• I checked the cart→checkout funnel breakdown recently: out of ~52 sessions, 19% added to cart, but only ~6% even reached checkout — so there's a real drop-off between cart and checkout start, not just at the final payment step. I just found and fixed one likely cause (a cross-sell item in the cart drawer that was confusing about what's already included in the main product, which was quietly increasing the perceived price by ~25% for anyone who added it), plus fixed a discount threshold that wasn't applying to single-item purchases. Too early to know if this moves the needle.

Constraints:

• Meta account is capped at ~$40/day total (business verification not possible right now on my end), so I can't just "spend more to get more data" as a lever.
• Limited overall budget, so I can't afford months of pure trial and error.

What I'm trying to figure out: is this still a volume issue (too few Add-to-Carts to expect a statistically meaningful number of purchases yet), a trust gap specific to checkout for a new/unknown brand, or something in the offer itself that Add-to-Cart behavior doesn't reveal? Genuinely not sure where to focus next, and would rather ask people who've actually dealt with this than guess.

If you've been through something similar — where did the real problem end up being, and how did you find it?

Running a Shopify dropshipping store, live for about 6 weeks now. Here's the full picture, trying to be as transparent as possible because I'm genuinely stuck.

Timeline:
First 4-5 weeks: ran ATC-optimized campaigns, ~$650 spent total across multiple ad sets and creative angles. Decent engagement the whole time (best cost-per-link-click around $0.70-1, CTR in the 10-17% range depending on the creative). Got 26 real Add-to-Carts. But the site had an actual cart bug during this period — some sessions had broken checkout flow, double add-to-carts — so I don't fully trust that data.

Fixed the bug, rebuilt the entire landing page from scratch (long-form advertorial style, follows a structured copywriting framework), then tested Purchase-optimization for 3 days on the clean setup. Day 1 was great (CTR 3.3%, $0.69 CPC). Day 2-3 the CPC spiked hard ($5-10), so I killed it — with zero purchase history ever, I figured I'd never hit the ~50 weekly events needed to exit learning on that objective anyway.

Went back to ATC on the clean funnel with my two historical best creatives (a receipt-style static image and a UGC testimonial video, both previously proven at $0.65-0.81 cost-per-click). Less than 3 days in on this clean run: CTR 16-19% and 9-11% on the two ad sets, CPC $0.50-0.70, already 14+ Add-to-Carts.

The actual problem: Still zero purchases. Not one, ever, across any campaign, any angle, in 6 weeks.

What I've already ruled out:

• Checkout technically works — I've done a full real test purchase myself, completed it, and confirmed the Purchase event fires correctly in the pixel.
• Payment methods are all there (Apple Pay, PayPal, Google Pay, cards), Shop Pay express checkout available.
• Shipping cost/policy is clearly communicated on-site and on the landing page, not a surprise at checkout.
• I checked the cart→checkout funnel breakdown recently: out of ~52 sessions, 19% added to cart, but only ~6% even reached checkout — so there's a real drop-off between cart and checkout start, not just at the final payment step. I just found and fixed one likely cause (a cross-sell item in the cart drawer that was confusing about what's already included in the main product, which was quietly increasing the perceived price by ~25% for anyone who added it), plus fixed a discount threshold that wasn't applying to single-item purchases. Too early to know if this moves the needle.

Constraints:

• Meta account is capped at ~$40/day total (business verification not possible right now on my end), so I can't just "spend more to get more data" as a lever.
• Limited overall budget, so I can't afford months of pure trial and error.

What I'm trying to figure out: is this still a volume issue (too few Add-to-Carts to expect a statistically meaningful number of purchases yet), a trust gap specific to checkout for a new/unknown brand, or something in the offer itself that Add-to-Cart behavior doesn't reveal? Genuinely not sure where to focus next, and would rather ask people who've actually dealt with this than guess.

If you've been through something similar — where did the real problem end up being, and how did you find it?