Offers that sell without killing your margin

Your product is what people buy. Your offer is the deal that makes them buy today. A good offer gives a hesitant buyer one more push. A bad one gives away your profit and teaches customers to wait for the next sale.

Do the margin sum first

Before you choose an offer, know how much you can give away on one order and still make money.

1. Take your selling price.
2. Subtract what the product costs you.
3. Subtract packing, shipping and payment fees for one order.
4. Subtract the ad cost you expect for one sale. If you do not know it yet, start with a guess and correct it after the first week.
5. What is left is your profit per order. Your offer must cost less than this.

Write the number down. Every offer below is checked against it.

Six offers that work for Malaysian shops

Bundles and sets

Sell two or three items together for less than buying them one by one. "Buy 2, save RM 10" or a starter set of three. A bundle raises the order size, so your fixed costs (shipping, packing, the ad) are spread over more money. That is why a bundle often earns more than a plain discount of the same size.

Free gift

Add a small item the customer values more than it costs you: a sample, a pouch, a recipe card. If you state its value ("free gift worth RM 20"), make sure you can show where that value comes from.

Free shipping above a spend

Set a minimum spend for free shipping a little above what most customers spend now. In a 2024 FedEx and Morning Consult survey of US shoppers, 81% said they would spend more to reach a free shipping threshold. A common starting point, cited by Shopify, is about 30% above your average order. Shopify also warns that the average can mislead, so check what most of your orders come to. Shipping to Sabah and Sarawak usually costs more, so check your sum for East Malaysia too.

Cash on delivery

Many Malaysians still prefer to pay when the parcel arrives. Pos Malaysia reported that cash on delivery was about 14% of Malaysian e-commerce payments in 2024. COD lifts orders, but some buyers refuse the parcel at the door, and you often pay shipping both ways. Confirm every COD order by WhatsApp before you send it. The blog guide on COD offer ads covers the costs in detail.

Limited time

A real end date gives people a reason to act now. Tie it to something true: a festival, a payday weekend, a mega sale day like 11.11. Meta's Advertising Standards ban deceptive claims, so a deadline that never ends or a countdown that resets can get your ad rejected.

Discount

A straight discount is the easiest to understand and the hardest on your margin. Use it last, and keep it for sale dates. The lesson on Malaysian ad rules covers what "was" prices and "up to" claims must follow.

Rules that come with every offer

• Conditions on free offers. The Consumer Protection Act 1999 (section 14) asks you to describe any condition clearly, place it near the word "free" and print it at least half as large. "Percuma" counts too.
• Limited stock. If you say the offer is limited, section 15 of the same Act asks you to state the quantity and the dates in the ad.
• The landing page must match. If the ad says "free gift", the checkout must show it.

The guide on free offer and guarantee rules goes deeper.

Worked example: kuih raya in tins

Say you sell homemade kuih raya in tins from Shah Alam. One tin sells for RM 35.

• The ingredients and tin cost RM 14.
• Packing and shipping in Peninsular Malaysia cost RM 9.
• You expect about RM 6 in ad cost per order.

That leaves RM 6 profit on one tin. A 20% discount (RM 7) would lose money on every order.

Now try a set of three tins for RM 95. Your costs are RM 42 for the kuih, about RM 12 for shipping one bigger box, and still about RM 6 in ad cost. That leaves RM 35 profit, and the customer saves RM 10. To make the set feel special, you add a free small tin of kuih bangkit that costs you RM 4. You still keep RM 31 an order, about five times what one tin earns. You end the offer on a stated date before Raya and print that date on the ad.

Put your offer into AdPlay.ai

1. Open Products & Services and open your product.
2. In the Offer row, click Add an offer (or Change if one is there) and type your deal. The box suggests the format: "Like 17% off or Buy 2 free 1".

3. In Buying terms, add short terms such as Cash on delivery or Free shipping.
4. Click Save.
5. When you make ads in the Ad Generator and an idea needs an offer, the Generate dialog lists your product's offers under Offers. Check the ones that are true today (up to 3), or type the one you are running. If you skip it, the ad shows no price or discount.
6. If you pick an idea marked Set of 2 or Set of 3, the same dialog shows the products in the picture. Your main product is always in. Tick the others (up to 3 products in all). If the idea needs an offer, type the set deal, like "3 tins for RM 95".

The guide on set ads shows the set steps on screen.

Checklist

• You know your profit per order in ringgit.
• The offer costs less than that profit.
• Bundles and free shipping thresholds were tried before a plain discount.
• Every condition sits next to the word free, at least half its size.
• Any deadline or stock limit is real and stated in the ad.
• The checkout page matches the ad.

Your homework

Do the margin sum for your best-selling product. Pick one offer from this lesson that fits inside your profit per order. Add it to the Offer row of that product on AdPlay.ai, add any buying terms such as Cash on delivery, and click Save. Next lesson: proof and reviews.