It happens once in a blue moon, but they’re rather memorable events – a customer at a convention will come back to me in a huff complaining their keychain is scratched and they want a new one. So I explain to them, and then peel it in front of them. They always look apologetic after and say they didn’t know. And that’s fine! If you’re new to buying acrylic products, you probably don’t know!
It’s being protected with plastic!
Every item made of acrylic (keychains, acrylic pins, standees, etc.) comes with a protective plastic film* on it that keeps the actual acrylic surface from being scratched up during manufacturing. This film tends to be rough and scratched up already after being handled and shipped. Sometimes you’ll be able to peel it off quite easily, but most of the time it’s still stuck on pretty well. (Some artists actually peel their acrylics before sending it to customers, but I don’t risk it getting scratched or damaged during shipping.)
With your fingernail or a coin, you can either scratch the edges or the hole in which the key clasp is attached by–that tends to be a section that’s more loose with the film. Eventually the film will give way and you can peel it off to reveal the image as it was meant to be shown.
Now personally, keep mine on until it’s falling off, to extend the lifetime of the keychain. If it’s been used until the film falls off, that just means it gets a bonus life with the now-pristine image showing, doesn’t it?
*The exception to this is if the item has an epoxy (resin) finish. Usually this is listed in the item description!