Facebook Ads Cost Per Purchase Benchmarks for Marketplaces

Introduction

Marketplaces saw a lower and more erratic cost-per-purchase profile versus the global benchmark across the year. After a mid-summer dip, the Marketplaces median cost-per-purchase climbed into a sharp spring spike before retreating into June — a narrative of rises, drops and brief overshoots of the baseline. This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Marketplaces in All countries available compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

Marketplaces began July 2025 at about $29.4 per purchase and finished June 2026 near $38.9 — a net increase of roughly 32% from start to finish. Across the 12 months the Marketplaces median was about $39.1, with a low near $23.5 in September 2025 and a peak of roughly $72.4 in May 2026. That peak represents nearly a threefold swing from the September trough.

Key monthly moves stand out: July→August rose ~44% (to $42.3), August→September plunged ~44% (to $23.5), and a large spring surge from February→March jumped ~64% (to $48.6), continuing through April (+24%) and May (+21%) before collapsing ~46% into June. Average month-to-month absolute change was about $12.9 — a pronounced level of churn for a single metric.

By contrast the global baseline hovered near $49.9 on average (range roughly $43.0–$56.0 across the same period), offering a steadier pattern.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

The Marketplaces series shows clear rhythm: a softer late-summer/early-fall trough (September lows), intermittent winter softness (January), then a concentrated spring spike (March–May) that tops out in May and retracts sharply in June. The spring bump aligns with a pronounced pulse rather than a gradual seasonal lift — the change is front-loaded and volatile rather than smooth. Overall volatility is concentrated in isolated months (Sep, Mar–May, Jun) rather than evenly distributed.

Country vs. Global

Compared with the global benchmark, Marketplaces in All countries available ran materially below baseline for most of the year. The median cost-per-purchase was about 21.7% lower than the global average across the period. The gap varied: at its narrowest in March Marketplaces were roughly 13% below the global benchmark; at its widest in September they were about 56% below. Unusually, April and May flipped the script — Marketplaces rose to about 20% and 53% above the global median respectively — brief overshoots before retreating into June (about 10% below global again). Month-to-month volatility in Marketplaces (avg. ~$12.9) was roughly four times the baseline’s monthly movement (avg. ~$3.1), signaling a more turbulent cost environment.

Understanding Facebook Ads cost-per-purchase benchmarks for Marketplaces in All countries available helps teams contextualize seasonality, spikes and cross-market gaps when comparing CPM analysis, CPC trends and CTR performance against broader country-specific ad costs and industry ad performance.