Short answer: a fully-loaded DTC media buyer (salary, benefits, tools, plus creative support) runs $8,000–$13,300/month — not the $6,250/month salary line most brands compare against an agency fee. Under a standard percentage-of-spend agency model, that in-house cost is clearly higher than an agency retainer at $50K/month spend, roughly comparable at $80K/month, and clearly lower than an agency retainer at $150K/month. $80K/month is the genuine toss-up zone — the decision there comes down to speed and category knowledge, not cost.
Why the comparison people run is wrong
The comparison most founders make is "agency fee vs salary" — an agency retainer against a $75K/year hire ($6,250/month). On that math, in-house looks cheaper at almost any spend level. That comparison leaves out everything that isn't the salary line.
The fully-loaded cost of one in-house media buyer
A Meta/Google specialist with real DTC experience runs $70K–$120K/year in base salary. Once benefits, payroll tax, and standard software overhead are added, industry benchmarks put the fully-loaded employment cost at roughly $78,000–$124,000/year — $6,500–$10,300/month. That figure doesn't include creative production, which a media buyer doesn't typically do themselves: freelance or outsourced creative support runs another $1,500–$3,000/month.
Fully-loaded total: $8,000–$13,300/month, before counting the 60–120 day ramp-up period where a new hire is learning the account and results typically plateau, or the fact that DTC media buyer tenure averages 14–18 months — meaning most brands eat this ramp-up cost more than once every two years.
The 3 spend levels
Agency retainers under a standard percentage-of-spend model run roughly 10–15% of monthly spend between $25K–$100K, and 8–12% above $100K/month (below $25K, percentages run higher still, which is part of why flat-fee retainers exist at the smaller end).
$50K/month ad spend. Percentage-of-spend agency cost: $5,000–$7,500/month. In-house fully-loaded cost: $8,000–$13,300/month, and that's before the ramp-up period. Agency economics win clearly here — the overhead of a dedicated hire doesn't shrink at a smaller budget.
$80K/month ad spend. Percentage-of-spend agency cost: $8,000–$12,000/month. In-house fully-loaded cost: $8,000–$13,300/month. These now overlap — this is the actual crossover zone, not $50K or $150K. The deciding question here isn't cost, it's speed and category depth: same-day creative iteration and brand-specific knowledge a shared agency strategist takes longer to build. If the account doesn't specifically need that, the cost case is a wash and the lower-risk choice (no ramp-up, no turnover risk) tips it toward agency.
$150K/month ad spend. Percentage-of-spend agency cost: $12,000–$18,000/month and rising with spend. In-house fully-loaded cost stays roughly fixed at $8,000–$13,300/month. The in-house (or hybrid) cost is now clearly lower — this is where the math flips. Most brands at this level land on a hybrid: one in-house strategist who owns account direction, paired with an agency or freelancer for execution — the model covered in agency vs in-house paid media for Shopify: what $1M+ brands actually do.
The question that actually decides it
Not "what's our ad spend" — "how much would a 0.3 ROAS point improvement be worth in revenue, and which model gets there faster." At $50K/month spend and 3.0 ROAS, 0.3 points is $15K/month in revenue. An $8,000–$13,300/month hire needs to move ROAS by more than that just to pay for itself before the agency comparison even applies. A $5,000–$7,500/month agency needs a smaller improvement to clear the same bar.
Run this calculation today
Take your current monthly ad spend. Multiply by your target ROAS improvement (0.2–0.3 is a realistic 90-day target for most accounts with real fixes available). That's the revenue a fix is worth. Compare that number against the fully-loaded cost of your current setup — agency fee, or salary + benefits + tools + creative — not just the headline number either option quotes you. Whichever model's cost is smaller relative to that revenue upside is the one to run with, for now.