$5 Flat Rate Shipping

-Turkey Lamp from Cabela's

-Flat -Rate Shipping

Let's say you're in the market for a turkey lamp made in China: I'm assuming most turkey lamps are not made in America. I didn't check this Cabela's turkey lamp, but I'll lay down 100 bucks against 5 it's made in China.
Now let's say you didn't realize you'd be able to find a turkey lamp in your local Cabela's store, so you order it at Cabela's.com. When you go to check out you're pleasantly surprised to discover you can have your prize shipped for a flat rate of $5--not a bad deal based on the average cost for shipping lamps and other various items. The only catch is to get the $5 flat rate you're required to pay with your Cabela's Club Visa card. Don't have one; not a problem...they'll sign you up!

Key learning: to know what kind of actual deal you're getting on any item you purchase anywhere, you have to add up all the cost associated with your purchase. True, if you pay your Cabela's Club Visa card in full each month, there's no finance charge. But Cabela's is hoping you won't pay it off so they'll be able to make additional profit by charging you a fairly substantial interest rate on your turkey lamp and other purchases you might have made on your Cabela's Club Card. Forget that you already paid Cabela's a nice profit in exchange for their turkey lamp (I don't know their margin on turkey lamps, but I'm confident it's over 40% and could be over 50%--Chinese turkey lamps don't cost much to make, providing you make them in China).
Cabela's $5 flat rate shipping is a real good deal, providing you can pay off your purchase in full before the due date. If not, the good deal you got on shipping is pretty quickly erased as soon as you start paying Cabela's additional profit via Club Card interest--which is a GREAT DEAL for Cabela's, but not such a great deal for you.

NOTE: I like Cabela's a whole lot, and if I haven't mentioned it before, they're my favorite sporting goods establishment. It doesn't change my opinion, however, about being careful to determine which end of the great deal you might actually be on.