How Does Online Liquidation Auction Work? The App Saving Cleveland Shoppers Big Money: CLExplained

Looking to save money? Online liquidation sites are helping Clevelanders save big on everything from electronics to home decor. With facilities expanding across Northeast Ohio, the sites work like eBay, but auction off returned and overstocked items instead of used goods from single sellers. In this week's episode of CLExplained, our new video series helping you navigate the latest news and issues affecting Northeast Ohio, Sound of Ideas host Stephanie Haney recently asked that exact question after receiving a traffic camera ticket in the mail.

If you love shopping — or you just need stuff — but you hate spending money, you might want to know about something I recently came across. It’s an online liquidation site you can shop right here in Northeast Ohio.

I’m Stephanie Haney, and this is CLE Explained.

A few different versions of this have popped up lately, but the one I’ve recently been turned on to is called OLA, which stands for Online Liquidation Auction.

It works kind of like a local eBay. You bid on things you want to buy, except you don’t have to deal directly with an individual seller. If you win, you can pick a time to grab whatever you bought pretty quickly at one of the OLA warehouses. They’ve recently added more locations, which is probably why more people are talking about it now. As of today, there are five: Cleveland, Independence, North Royalton, Stow and Wickliffe.

Those are obviously pretty far apart, so you can filter in the app to only see items available at the warehouses you’re willing to drive to.

When you go to pick something up, you check in on the OLA app when you pull into the parking lot at your scheduled time, get assigned a number, and go inside to wait while someone brings you what you bought. It’s super easy.

Within the past couple of weeks, I personally scored a bathroom vanity light that would’ve cost $44 for $1, and a mirror for my bathroom that would’ve been at least $70 for $10.

The group chat is very in on this. One of my friends got a Purple pillow for less than half price — and at full price, that’s about a $200 pillow. Another friend picked up a $43 rug for $3.

It is hit or miss whether one of the warehouses will have what you might want at any given time, but it’s also kind of fun just to see what’s for sale. You can search auctions ending soon if you want to get dizzy watching things disappear in real time, or browse top deals if you want to daydream about random stuff you might try to snag for a ridiculous price.

For some reason, gold inflatable mirror balls sell for more than $400 in the real world. Someone might get one for $10. I saw a camera last night that was going for $57 so far that would otherwise cost close to $500. Same thing with some pretty nice noise-canceling headphones.

They even have things like refrigerators on there, which, if you need one, might work out really well for you.

Here’s a word of warning, though: read the item descriptions thoroughly. Not everything listed on the site is brand new, so pay attention and make sure you swipe through all the pictures to be sure you’re OK with the condition.

Obviously, what counts as a good deal will be different for everyone. But if you like saving money in general, you might want to check out OLA. And if you do and you get a good deal, let me know, because I love me some secondhand shopping.

Alright, that’s all for now. See you next time on CLE Explained.