Philatelists Karl and Louise Vermeulen sued stamp dealer Jaques Preiss for $234,000 on his ‘no questions asked’ refund policy after expert evidence suggested some of the stamps sold were fakes and forgeries.
Mr Preiss argued, unsuccessfully, that a time limit applied and that the Vermeulens had not complained within a reasonable time.
The High Court was told they purchased thousands of stamps from Mr Preiss over a fifteen month period from 2021.
Initial purchases were through Mr Preiss’ TradeMe account. His advertised terms of sale offered a ‘no questions refund … Your satisfaction is what I care most about.’ Later sales moved off the TradeMe platform, made directly with the Vermeulens.
They were later contacted by two expert philatelists who advised that Mr Preiss’ offerings were ‘highly suspect’ and that higher value stamps purchased were potentially fakes or reprints.
When the Vermeulens demanded a refund, Mr Preiss denied ever knowingly selling forgeries. He required proof of forgeries before making any refund.
The Vermeulens said the cost of having individual stamps verified was prohibitive, with thousands of stamps to be checked at a quoted cost of $75 per stamp.
Associate judge Cogswell ruled the Vermeulens were entitled to a refund under terms of Mr Preiss’ guarantee.
This guarantee applied to stamps sold both through his TradeMe account and subsequent direct sales. Their history of dealings meant the guarantee given earlier on TradeMe carried over, by inference, into their subsequent direct dealings.
The refund guarantee was open-ended. There was no time limit.
This reduced the perceived risk of dealing with an online vendor, Judge Cogswell said.
Even if claims under the guarantee had to be made within a reasonable time, the Vermeulens had done so, he said. They acted promptly once warned some of the stamps were suspect.
Preiss v. Vermeulen – High Court (30.05.25)
25.131