How I Saved for My Dream Vacation

Some of you know me as “One Crazy Redhead” or the lady behind Good Buys All the Time, but I’ve never told my story.  As an online retailer I’ve experienced ups and downs in sales but with a little hard work and determination I was able to achieve some things I never thought I was capable of, and I’m excited to tell you how I saved for my dream vacation this year!

I’m Maryann Lowden, born and raised in Connecticut and now live in a rural town in West Tennessee. I started selling on eBay in 2000 and I heard about FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) but was very reluctant to venture into a different marketplace.  I was afraid of the process and intimidated of trying something new, but my sales on eBay were tanking and I figured “what have I got to lose?”

My biggest obstacle was MONEY – I literally did not have 2 nickels to rub together.
1) I didn’t have a smartphone – luckily I had an upgrade to offset the cost of an iPhone.
2) Could I afford the $39.99 Amazon Pro-Seller Subscription, plus an additional $39.99 for ScanPower?
The way I saw it, I would be $80.00 in the hole before I even started…

I have never been a quitter and decided to take the second leap of faith of my life; (my 1st leap was quitting my corporate job when my husband was diagnosed with leukemia several years ago – mortality has a way of slapping you in the face when you are told your husband of 30 years has 6 months to live). So without further to do, I decided I would stop talking about what I wanted to do and I would DO IT, because no one is promised tomorrow.

I started FBA in November of 2011 and have never looked back.  My first payout was $1,000 and the next was $2,000 – I literally couldn’t believe it as I followed their instructions and sent things to FBA that I had around the house.  I can honestly say, I never missed the $80.00 per month for Pro-Seller and FBA subscriptions.

No disrespect to my husband, but he was not a “cheerleader” when I started. He considered this new venture some “get rich quick” scheme which made me even more determined to prove him wrong.  Most girls reminisce about when those “3 little words” are spoken by their significant other. The best 5 little words ever spoken by my husband were:  “I guess you showed me,” in December of 2011.

I still had a small fear that my initial success was due to the holiday season and prayed that I wouldn’t be out of business. Guess what?  It got even better!!  I have done a combination of thrifting and retail arbitrage and it has served me well as I have a variety of items for sale in many categories – fitting as my store name is “Good Buys All the Time.”

Fast Forward to 2015

After a few years of FBA, my business is thriving and I am paying it forward by coaching “newbies” who want to get started doing Amazon. In May, I am going on a 16 day dream vacation to Europe – all thanks to my favorite Bible Verse:  “Faith is the assurance of things unseen,” Hebrews 11:1. I hope that my story is an inspiration to anyone else struggling to turn their small business into a money maker.  With a little hard work and determination, God blessed me with regular sales and a great support team to keep me going. My goal is to continue serving my customers and offering great products at a great price, but after all of my hoping and dreaming, I’m going to Europe first.

~ Maryann Lowden