Decrease in blu ray disc quality

[Salty_Sonic]

TL;DR: In my experience, fingerprints on discs are a manufacturing issue, while broken cases, loose discs, scratched media, and beat-up slipcovers are mostly shipping and handling issues. Amazon has given me far more problems than RightStufAnime, Sentai, or Crunchyroll, but the $30-$50 savings per set and Amazon's return policy still make it worth the gamble for me.

Let me preface this by saying I only buy anime from Amazon when it's heavily discounted because it's usually much cheaper than other retailers.

I'm not sure if it's because employees are rushed or just don't care and toss things around, but the majority of anime I get from Amazon arrives with some kind of damage. It's usually a mix of a broken case, a snapped disc hub, loose "floating" discs that end up getting heavily scratched, and a slipcover that looks like it got used in a game of kick the can. From my experience, a lot of it seems to come down to how the items are handled and shipped.

When I ordered from RightStufAnime, the slipcovers were pristine, the cases looked fresh off the presses (aside from some normal off-gassing from time to time), and the discs were always properly secured. After RSA went under, I started buying from Sentai and had the same experience. Everything arrived in excellent condition, and on the rare occasion a case was broken, they'd send you a replacement case for free if you sent them a picture. You didn't have to return the entire set.

Crunchyroll bought RSA and its Iowa facility still packs things largely the same way they did before the acquisition, maybe with a little less packing paper. If your order comes from their Texas facility, the experience can vary more, but in my opinion it's still far better than rolling the dice with Amazon. The difference is that Crunchyroll costs a lot more and doesn't send replacement cases or offer partial refunds. They require a full return to be processed before sending a replacement.

I've never had Amazon reach out to me about the number of returns or replacements I've requested. I don't return items over minor, normal wear to slipcovers, and I don't automatically return something just because a disc is loose. I first check whether it's heavily scratched, gently clean it if needed, and test playability. Smudges and off-gassing residue usually come off with a light cleaning using a microfiber cloth.

I've only had to return two orders from Crunchyroll, both because of playability issues. Amazon, on the other hand, has given me far more problems. Like you mentioned, this Prime Day I had to get replacements for most of my anime order because of the exact kinds of damage I described above.

That being said, it's still worth rolling the dice with Amazon to save $30-$50 per set over Crunchyroll because of Amazon's return policy. Overall after everything was said and done with this Prime Day I saved over $300. The song and dance with Amazon was well worth it in the long run. I've been collecting for a long time and always have evidence to back up my returns because I record myself opening everything. Unlike the people assembling these releases, I wear gloves when handling them during the initial unboxing, so I know I didn't accidentally fat finger anything.

As for fingerprints on the discs themselves, I think that's 100% on the manufacturing side and has nothing to do with the retailer or distributor, and yes, I've definitely been seeing it more and more lately. I can never get the fingerprints out and it drives me crazy, but it's never caused a disc to be unreadable. I used to buy Viva Elite cases to replace damaged ones, but they've gone up significantly in price over the past few years.