"I felt compelled to write a review after my recent experience with this company. I ordered only once and this will be the only time that I ever do. The positive: They sell 'legit' anime. They have good prices. It is not bootleg. Their customer service is friendly. Now for the negative: Their 'legit' anime is re-wrapped and not new. I had scratches on some dvd's and box sets that were not wrapped at all come in the mail. When I requested replacements for my damaged product, they mailed individual dvd's in paper sleeves with only a bubble envelope for protection. Needless to say, the replacements came more damaged than the original shipment. I was very dissapointed. I now have to rely solely on Amazon.com for my anime."

"I've never loved an online website more than I love RightStuf. They have extremely low prices. Really, the manga is dirt cheap, the cheapest I can find anywhere. It's really easy to track your order and the quality of their items is fantastic. They have a gigantic selection. Until recently, I thought I would never be able to buy Fruits Basket brand new. Despite the fact that they sometimes don't have certain volumes in a manga series available for purchase, they still have the largest selection out there (that I am aware of).

They also ship really quick. I got my package under two weeks (I live in Canada) and their packaging is nice. It protects the items well without being messy - they use cardboard and paper, which also makes it easy to un-package your items. The shipping costs are a little high (I suspect that it's the really source of their income :P) but if you buy enough to get the free shipping, it's a great deal! Despite the fact I had to buy $150 worth of manga/anime for the free shipping, I think it was well worth it. When I calculated it out, it came to about 7 - 8 dollars an item. Typically, manga are 9 - 12 dollars anywhere else I go.

If there was anything I could ever recommend to all the Otaku in the world, it's this: Always buy from RightStuf. They give you the most for your money. Literally. "

"I've gone kind of nuts buying from Right Stuf in the last three months (placing 15 orders!!), and they've been nothing but peachy to me. I returned two DVD's to them because I accidentally ordered the wrong format (I wanted Blu-ray) and that went smoothly, and once I ordered an item they couldn't get anymore so they replaced it with a similar item at my request, which was no hassle at all on my end. They are probably annoyed with me because of how many bargain orders I've placed which I doubt they make *any* profit from, but they still treat me really nicely and ship super quickly! I also appreciate the fact that they have very good but EASILY RECYCLABLE cardboard and paper packaging instead of using messy peanuts that require special disposal.

One kinda not-so-great thing is if you order a GE item (GE makes most of the anime t-shirts, wallscrolls, stationery and merch like that we get in North America with English packaging) from them you could be waiting a very long time for them to fulfill it because GE has really iffy item availability. When a GE item first comes out as a pre-order, merchants are only given a loose (quarterly, I think) ETA for it, and it's usually added to GE's catalog in a giant batch of stuff that will gradually trickle in over the next four months, with no idea of when exactly it will come in. I work for a lesser anime store so I know about how weird GE is, but Right Stuf could make it a liiiittle bit more clear that it could take a really really really long time to get certain "pre-order" merchandise. But I do appreciate how well Right Stuf seems to keep up with GE's catalog, as they appear very diligent about removing items that are no longer available -- which are really tough to keep track of... for me anyway!

Anyway, that was a minor quibble if you ask me especially since it isn't really Right Stuf's fault, and by the way you'll probably save a ton of money ordering GE stuff from them instead of someone else, so if you don't mind the wait it's most definitely worth it. I still like to order from Right Stuf even if I can get an item cheaper elsewhere, though, because I really like to support these guys for how honest they seem and how well they've treated me. And the Got Anime club is awesome!"

"I have, over the last 6 months or so, made multiple purchases from RightStuf, and will continue to do so in the future. The prices I have gotten have been phenomenal, and shipping (if the item is in stock) has always been prompt. They have a very good selection, and their bargain bin houses a lot of excellent sets, even some of the harder to find limited edition packs. To top it off, I purchased their GotAnime? discount membership (10% off most orders), and have been very happy with that.

I have also purchased a series from RightStuf's "Nozomi Entertainment" line (Revolutionary Girl Utena), and the packaging and quality of the series is very good.

If you're looking to make an Anime or Manga purchase, don't forget to stop by Rightstuf.com. I hardly shop anywhere else, as they are almost always a good 10-30% lower than everywhere else (especially Amazon.com)."

"After my experience with this company I have decided to never order from them again. I ordered a large order on January 18, 2011. They claimed on the website that everything was in stock and my order would be shipped soon. I recieved everything except one item which I have now been waiting on for three months. (Mine you I still have NOT received this item) Everytime I try to email them they give me the same answer - it's being shipped from the manufacteror. I'm completely annoyed with this company and their utter lack of costumer service and I suggest that no one order from them unless you want a headache. "

"Have shopped from this retailer many, many times. Always extremely pleased with the quickness of shipping, accuracy of listed product availability status, and quality and prices of products. Their Customer Service is top-notch, with their management and staff very eager to make the customers happy."

"I've only ordered from Right Stuf once, but I was satisfied with my purchase. It did take around 2-3 weeks though due to three of the items being out of stock, even though I was told that they were in stock. I was glad that they shipped the rest of the order separately though instead of making me wait for everything.

Other than that, Right Stuf often has sales on DVDs and other items which I think is great. I would recommend this store to anyone looking for some great deals on anime/manga and other merchandise."

"This is my fourth order from Righstuf. Their manga prices are consistently two or three dollars lower than Amazon and I really love their free shipping on orders over (I think) $49. It's easy to spend that much, and their Bargain Bin/Closeouts have made my Christmas Shopping for my anime-loving friends affordable and have let me check out new anime at prices often lower than rentals. Their shipping is always fast, just be careful to make sure the item isn't listed as "on order from the manufacturer" and is in stock. I will continue to buy my manga here (Amazon has their normal DVD prices beaten by far)."

"Let me first start out by saying that anyone who doubts this companies validity in selling official Anime DVD's to worry no more as the DVD's this company has are the same one's you find in any official retail outlet store such as Best Buy.

I'm extremely satisfied with my order from this company. The order included a hard to find book/manga and an anime DVD. Everything went smoothly and they shipped it the following day. I received the package by the fourth day I made the order. Their packaging was excellent and I received the items in good condition. I would have rated the condition better if the book/manga had less of a used look to it. Overall I am pleased with this company and would order from them again. "

"I too was lured by the low prices on heavily discounted items during some of RightStuf's sales but have come to realize their faults to my own detriment. I didn't know that heavily discounted sometimes equated to defective or used because that was the condition of some items that I received. Used items were clearly indicated by missing original manufacturer sticker seals and cover inserts. Defective items (with very indicative signs of case warping or gashes to DVD packaging) were allowed to pass the packing checkpoint--the defects are not results of shipping damage because the one thing that RightStuf does right is that they package the items very securely. What's worse is that even though these defects are no fault of the customer's, the customer has to pay to ship the items back for an exchange/refund. Customer service is lacking too because they will will deny responsibility by questioning the credibility of the customer's claims.

RightStuf does have some saving graces: They ship fast, and they package their items well (maybe the best I've ever seen for online DVD retailers). However, this single point of excellence is marred and overshadowed by their practice of passing used items off as new and their failure to carefully inspect the quality of the DVDs prior to shipping.

I haven't purchased items when they're not on sale because they're generally very close to MSRP--which is much more expensive compared to other places (sometimes even brick and mortar stores)."

"I have placed at least ten orders with RightStuf over the past eight years with little problem. Their customer service is very good. The prices are average for an online store, but occasionally they offer studio-wide sales of 33 to 40% off. RightStuf is my 2nd favorite site for DVDs, next to DVD Pacific, which usually offers 43% off on all anime DVDs. RightStuf is very trustworthy."

"I got in on rightstuf's awesome 25 for $100 on Geneon REMIX deal, then found a few more items so I ordered 10 for $50 as well. It took about 14 days to get both orders in due to a few items being back-ordered, but they answered my questions quickly when I asked what was going on with my order. Everything came in perfectly and would definetly order from them again. (Just expect to wait a bit on the really good deals)."

"I have placed many orders from The Right Stuf, usually anime DVDs on sale. Some of the best-of-the-beast deals that appear once in a while (like $120 to $150 anime boxsets for $40) usually go fast, and have had to wait months to fufill the order entirely, but I have never had anything cancelled. This only happens on extremely good deals, as regular or not-heavily discounted items are usually shipped within a couple of days. Non-sale items are fairly priced, but it's the sale items that keep me coming back. I have received e-mails quickly when I've had a question, and they send periodic order updates as to the status of orders and shipping confirmations."

"I have purchased multiple times since 2003 but exclusively during their sales, which represent fairly good deals. Important to note that for sales, they never stock enough of the sale items so don't expect to receive anything you order right away. They also ship whenever they receive stock, so your order comes piecemeal. I have requested to ship when all items are available, but they continue to ship as they come. Also, avoid buying items on pre-order during their sales since they'll ship one at a time when released, and the ship costs will negate the sales savings.

Mid-high range prices, selection wide but mostly limited to DVDs and manga.

Site is decent to navigate, but "Continue shopping" button is a pain since it always takes you back to the main item menu, rather than taking you back to the last search or subcategory (or giving options where you want to go); so if you're trying to queue five volumes of a series, you'll be searching and navigating back to that list five times. Also, their cart seems prone to losing contents, so you're stuck adding everything back again (a pain with lots of items). Nice feature that notifies you if you try to order something you ordered before (giving you order#, date of order, and ship status).

Automated notifications of status and shipping are routine, and online order status check is easy to access. Items are shipped very securely.

I do intend to keep purchasing during their sales, since I still think those are worth the negatives.

"

"This company has a program called "Got Anime! Membership" which costs $12 per year and is supposed to give you an additional 10% discount on all items unless it is already heavily discounted (for example, if an item is part of their bargain bin, weekly specials, or closeout items).

Also, they offer special sales on certain items every now then (just this summer, for instance, they had 40% off ADV DVDs) for a limited time. Plus, you usually get the additional 10% discount with these items, unless otherwise noted.

Now, the "Got Anime! Membership" doesn't get applied to your order automatically. So, you will have to wait for the order confirmation email with the prices adjusted by them manually. Depending on what day you place your order (weekend, holiday, etc...) they may take a couple of days to send the confirmation.



Here are a couple things you should be careful of when placing an order online:

1) Whenever they have a special sale, read the ad carefully and see if the discount applies to the regular retail prices or the rightstuf web prices. The first time I bought items on sale, I didn't notice that the discount applied to retail prices and not their cheaper web prices, which threw me off a bit.

2) Also, note that discounts on CDs and manga are usually smaller than DVDs. (I get books and CDs from AllDirect.com, and most of the time their prices are still cheaper than Rightstuf's sale prices even after applying the additional 10% membership discount.)

3) The sale discounts usually apply to "In Stock and Available" items only, but you'll likely still get the 10% membership discount for items not readily available.

4) The items that are heavily discounted will have a note below the price that says "Not Eligible For Additional Discounts". Obviously, you won't get an additional 10% discount on these items.



Taking those into consideration, here are some of the issues I've encountered throughout all my orders from Rightstuf:

1) One of the items in my first order was slightly damaged, and because they supposedly do a thorough inspection of their products before shipping, I had to pay for the return shipping fee for an exchange even though it wasn't my fault. So, I returned it recently (paying for shipping myself) after getting an RA# from Customer Service and am now waiting for the replacement they are sending me. The person I talked to was very knowledgable, although at first she sounded like she didn't believe me. (I got the impression she thought I was lying about the damaged item.) Throughout this whole process, I did not get a single email notifying me of the status of the exchange, the RA#, etc... You can log on to the website and check the status yourself, but again, the website isn't very detailed and it doesn't show the RA#.

2) For my most recent order (which is my third so far), I bought some items during their recent Pioneer DVD/CD sale, as well as some other items that were NOT on sale. For some odd reason, they missed the fact that I have a "Got Anime! Membership" and didn't apply the additional 10% discount to the qualifying items on my order (even though my membership# shows up in the confirmation email). So, I called them again, and they applied the 10% discount to the DVDs and CDs only, but not to the other items (which were toys). They claimed that the items were already on sale, but I have not found anything on the website to prove this fact. Furthermore, when I checked the prices posted on the website again just to be sure, they prices they charged me are the same as the original RETAIL prices for the toys.

I don't mind so much because the toys aren't too expensive and the shipping is free when you go over $49 (which I did). However, I still feel cheated because I couldn't find anything indicating that those toys were on "Sale" anywhere on the website, and the person I talked to on the phone this time, wasn't even very knowledgable about the membership discount or the sale. All she said was that the items show up on sale in THEIR systems, and that I only couldn't see it on the website as a customer. What the hell!?!?

3) Finally, although not as big a deal, all three of my orders since I became a member in June 9, 2005, still have items that are "On Order From Manufacturer". Some of these items were originally labelled "In Stock and Available" at the time of my purchase. I understand that these things aren't easy to control, but this is just one of those things you also have to keep in mind when you order something from Rightstuf.



Overall, Rightstuf is a decent company with fair prices and good customer service. However, I am not completely satisfied with the way they handle their pricing/discounts or the amount of time I have to wait for back-ordered items.

PROS: Excellent packaging/shipping (with exception of my first order). Good customer service. Decent sale prices.

CONS: You may not always get the right discount price that you expect because the "Got Anime! Membership" discount is applied haphazardly (maybe that description is a bit too harsh)."