'New without tags' dress arrived damaged, need advice.

[WeAreEternal]

I have been looking for a dress like this for a while for my work Xmas do, I finally found one and won it for a reasonable price.
As it was listed 'NWOT' and "never worn only tried on once but took the tags off before hand so couldn't return it" I paid more than I was planning to, but I was happy with my purchase.

However, when the dress arrived it was packaged in a taped up tesco carrier bag, and that was it. The dress was screwed up inside the bag and the whole thing looked like it had been dragged through a hedge.

When I unwrapped the dress I found that there is a small rip (4cm long) on the dress and several of the embellishments/gemstones had come off the dress.

I messages the seller immediately and sent pictures of the damage.
The seller told me that there was no damage when they sent it, but also told me to return the dress.

Since I have found it difficult to find a dress like this, and on this dress looks perfect, I told the seller that I would like to keep the dress and have it repaired, if they agreed.
They did so I went to three shops and got quotes, the cheapest of which is half of what I paid for the dress.

I have the quotes to the seller who said "if you get it fixed send me a photo of the repairs and I'll give you half of the repair bill"

I told the seller that I don't think I should be responsible for the repair cost as it arrived damaged, and that if that was the case I would rather just have a full refund and return the dress at their expense.
But that I really don't want that.

Looking at the pictures of the auction again I think it's a safe assumption that the damage was most likely caused in transit due to the poor packaging.
So the seller may have a case to claim damages from Royal Mail if they wanted to, which I suggested to the seller.

Basically I want the seller to pay for the repair,
Would opening a INAD case help me in this situation?

no - ebay will not give you a partial refund, they will tell you to prove return and refund in full. You can of course neg and leave low stars.

There is no resolution process to enforce the solution you want. You either accept seller's offer or return for full refund. If you accept for repairs you're on especially weak grounds with regard to making seller compensate you, so seller is being generous with that offer.
How much did you pay with delivery?

With recorded delivery I paid £78.

The repairs will be £30.

yowza.
What did that dress cost new?
Unfortunately, As Sandy says, your options are limited. The threat of neg FB is usually enough for most sellers to be helpful but I guess it's worth £15 for them to risk that.

Was the dress even sent recorded delivery?

Oh DOH, just ignore me!!

sounds awful. I would send it back for full refund.. buy something lovely in the shops instead.

if the dress was that expensive why would the seller not take care to pack it properly. I sell regularly on ebay and always use decent packaging for anything I sell usually under £10.

I would begrudge paying that amount for any dress let alone on ebay

The problem is that I have been looking for a dress exactly like this one for months, and it looks amazing on.

I paid just under two thirds of what this style of dress is priced at new.
But even in shops I have be struggling to find a dress like this one that I like or look good in.

Yes it was sent recorded, but just very poorly packaged.

but it isn't worth what you paid for it in that condition I guess?

There is nothing you can do except leave appropriate feedback and low stars.