This post documents a decision process I went through while reviewing inventory and cashflow in mid-January.
It’s less about tactics, and more about correctly interpreting what the market is actually doing — especially during a predictable seasonal slowdown.
The Initial Assumption
When inventory slows down, it’s easy to assume there’s a visibility problem.
Items aren’t selling, so the instinctive explanation becomes:
- listings aren’t being seen
- the store needs more exposure
- promotion or ads must be the solution
That was my starting assumption too.
But after looking at the data — and thinking about timing — it became clear that visibility wasn’t the real issue.
January Is Structurally Different
Mid-January is not a neutral selling environment.
By this point in the month:
- buyers are stretched after Christmas
- credit cards are full
- discretionary spending is paused
- many people are waiting for their January pay cheque
What this produces isn’t a lack of interest — it’s a lack of liquidity.
People browse.
They watch.
They hesitate.
They delay.
That behaviour matters.
Visibility vs Demand vs Timing
This was the key distinction.
A visibility problem looks like:
- no views
- no watchers
- no impressions
A demand or timing problem looks like:
- steady views
- watchers accumulating
- offers being considered but not accepted
What I was seeing matched the second pattern, not the first.
That meant pushing harder on visibility alone wouldn’t fix the underlying issue.
Why This Changed My Approach
Once I stopped assuming the store was “broken,” the decisions became clearer.
Instead of trying to force performance, the focus shifted to:
- positioning inventory for when buyers return
- improving liquidity without panic
- reducing dead stock ahead of demand re-entering the market
That’s a very different mindset.
How I Chose to Respond
Rather than treating January as a failure state, I treated it as a reset window.
That meant:
- sending time-limited offers to activate watchers
- using light promotion only where it made sense
- identifying inventory that had already missed its natural sell window
- planning exits for items unlikely to move at current prices
The goal wasn’t optimisation.
It was optional cashflow.
What January Is Actually Good For
January isn’t ideal for maximising revenue.
But it is good for:
- cleaning up inventory
- testing price sensitivity
- revealing what the market no longer wants
- freeing up space and attention
Those outcomes pay off later.
The mistake is expecting January to behave like spring or autumn.
The Question That Matters More Than “Why Isn’t This Selling?”
The most useful question I found wasn’t:
Why isn’t this selling?
It was:
What do I want to be holding when buyers come back?
That question leads to better decisions than any short-term performance metric.
A Rule I’m Keeping
This experience reinforced a simple rule:
January is about positioning, not performance.
If inventory is cleaner, leaner, and better aligned by the time demand returns, January has done its job.
Closing
Slow periods don’t always signal a problem.
Sometimes they’re just reminders to slow down, reassess, and prepare.
Interpreting the market correctly matters more than reacting quickly — and January rewards operators who understand that difference.
This post documents a decision process around inventory, timing, and cashflow while running resale businesses. Any changes to this thinking will be recorded separately over time.
