Launched last summer – ads aren’t working and I’m stuck on what to do next

I’m looking for some experienced outside perspective because I feel too close to this.

I launched a single-SKU product on Amazon around Aug 2025. Sales are slow, and ads have been the main driver of any movement so far — but the math isn’t working.

High-level numbers over the last few months:

• About $2.5k in ad spend
• Around $1.1k in ad-attributed sales
• ROAS ~0.4
• ~200k impressions

Margins were tighter than expected after launch due to higher-than-planned costs, which made paid traffic harder to justify.

If I turn ads off, sales nearly stop.
If I leave ads on, I’m losing money per unit.

I’ve trimmed keywords, lowered bids, cut obvious waste, and tried to be disciplined about spend. Early on it looked like things might improve, but performance has trended down instead.

Now I’m stuck on the bigger question:

Is it better to pause ads and accept very low sales while waiting for organic to (maybe) build?
Or keep ads on as a visibility tax even though ROAS is well under 1?
Or take this as a signal that this SKU just doesn’t work on Amazon at its current economics?

Trying to avoid sunk-cost thinking and figure out what’s rational vs emotional at this point.

For anyone who’s been in a similar spot — how did you decide when to pause, push, or walk away?

Appreciate any honest perspective.