The Right Thing: Should you trust a 'one-of-a-kind' Facebook ad?

Should you be concerned if an advertisement on Facebook for a "unique" product seems to feature the same product from at least a dozen different companies?

That's a concern for a reader we're calling Nona. It's a good question that raises a concern about the often murky ethics of online marketing.

Nona wrote that she noticed that not only were similar products being offered as exclusively manufactured for a store, but also that the stories being told about the store were remarkably similar. Recently, she's noticed quite a few stories about a mother and daughter operation that is slashing its prices because it is forced to shut its (often virtual) doors after 10 years or five years or whatever.

There's nothing wrong with the same or similar product being sold by different companies. Duplication is OK. But promoting the items as unique offerings crosses the line into being deceptive.

If a product is being promoted as unique or exclusive when it's clear that identical versions of the product are available elsewhere under a different name, that can be deliberately misleading for consumers. Granted, companies have embellished stories about their products for years, like the fictional J. Peterman on the sitcom "Seinfeld." But they should never lie about their wares or the availability or exclusivity of them. Lying rarely builds trust with a prospective customer.

Given the prevalence of online scams, consumers would be wise to have a healthy skepticism of anything offered online that appears too good or too cheap to be true.

If a seller on Facebook claims to be shutting down a decades-old business, it's worth checking to see how long ago its Facebook page was created. If reviews for products on sites other than Facebook don't seem available, that too can be a sign that something fishy is up. If the reviews are all glowing and pretty much the same, be suspect.

It's also possible to check websites like Trustpilot.com and look up a company's name to see if there are reviews available. Consumers can also try to go to the merchandiser's actual website. If one doesn't exist, red flag alert. If one exists but there's no physical address given and no phone number provided, another red flag.

If it seems like a photo of an "exclusive" product shows up from more than one company, it's simple enough to do a reverse image lookup on Google to see where else the same item appears. It's also simple enough to search for the company's name along with the word "scam" on a search engine to see if others have reported on the company's legitimacy.

If you find something you truly like online that is offered elsewhere, you don't have to rule out purchasing it. But the right thing is to be careful when doing so and do as much due diligence on a company before you hand over your credit card information.

Again, it's OK if many companies sell the same item at various prices. If they are misleading about who they are, that's when it's worth asking if they might be misleading you about other aspects of their business, such as quality and customer service.

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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 4:58 AM.