This is how retailers get you to spend more money
CBSN
As shoppers gear up for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season, it can be easy for people to rack up debt that will weigh them down well into the new year. So it pays for consumers to be aware of some of the tactics retailers employ to get them to spend.
For example, most offers that dangle savings in the form of free shipping or a free gift if you spend over a certain amount don't save you money. The practice, called "spaving," or spending more in order to save, rarely benefits consumers, according to personal finance experts.
"I understand the appeal of getting to checkout and a notification pops up saying spend $10 more to get some perk," LendingTree senior economist Jacob Channel told CBS MoneyWatch. "But 90% of the time when you break it down, it doesn't make sense. You're not actually saving money if you are spending more of it."
A group of House Democrats Tuesday called for action from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, days after CBS News published an investigation which found dozens of law enforcement officials illegally sold firearms, even weapons of war, across 23 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.