Winsome Wood Terry 5-Tier Bookshelf, Black - Modern Wooden Bookcase for Living Room, Bedroom & Office Storage

Assembly was a snap, and the unit fits my needs perfectly. Very attractive shelving unit!When I was in college many years ago I had a couple of folding stackable bookshelves. Since I moved often these were ideal for transporting easily from place to place, and easy to set up. I was always acquiring more and more books. I had my original book shelves for nearly 25 years, and had added considerably to my collection of folding bookshelves, but catastrophes happen, and I lost them. Living in a new small space, I absolutely NEEDED this type of shelving again. The Winsome Wood shelves are easy to put together (granted, one stage of building them can test your patience, but still its easy). For their weight and portability they are sturdy -- I have some heavy books. The finish is nice. They stack well. Where I live there are uneven floors, and I am able to put tiny shims at the bottom that levels them out and stablizes them readily (important to have them stable if you have many heavy books). Additionally, the shelves can be screwed to the walls in some cases if such security is needed (perhaps with children that might pull on them and dump the shelves and their contents) and the connecting hardware for stacking can act as anchoring hardware. With the 3-tier units and the 4-tier towers, a variety of configurations can be arranged, making them versatile and attractive. I have used many styles of shelving, and other than "built-in" bookshelves (obviously not portable and limiting in their ease of rearranging), these are by far my favorite shelving solution. If I had more room I'd have even more of these shelves. Well worth the price. Ideal for students, small rooms, frequent moves, but nice in nearly any setting (I used a previous set as an entertainment center in my living room). I definitely would recommend these easily portable versatile shelving units.This is my second purchase of this exact item (bought first one a few years ago). The first one overall, was very well made and engineered well. However, this second unit was anything but! First, the assembly illustration/instructions were a big headache. After an hour or so of pre-assembly (you have to line up everything WITHOUT tightening the screws). This isn't stressed enough in the instructions. Next, besides the nicks that occur so 'easily' during assembly, leaves undesirable 'white marks' on the all black paint job. Which brings me to the next complaint. The wood surface finish is 'absolutely terrible'! All the blemishes and unsightly surfaces (which comes from improper sanding, priming and painting) show through clearly!!! Getting this thing together is NOT EASY AT ALL! You would certainly need an assistant to help! After an hour or so of assembly, I finally got it done, and so now it is acceptable (except for the chipped area, etc.). THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD INCLUDE SOME KINE OF TOUCH UP PAINT, ETC. In conclusion, I guess it serves it purpose, and from a distance it appears attractive and it is functional as an addition to any room.It does it's job but the wood is not in the greatest shape.It was relatively easy to assemble on a table.I would probably buy another one for that price.Let's revisit the Product Description and review the sales points in reverse order.3-Tier Stackable Folding Shelf, Great for books or display your favorite things. Folds up for storage or moving. Stack on top of each other for extra storage. Made of solid/composite wood in Black Finish. Some assembly required.1. Some assembly required - a claim bordering on fraudulent. The two sides are assembled. The rest is all yours. There are three wooden bars that hold the entire unit together and YOU will be attaching them using a combination of wood pegs, screws and a supplied Allen wrench. That's right Ikea refugees, this sucker requires you to attach six BIG screws with an Allen wrench. You need to attach the 3 shelves. As someone has already pointed out, the holes are in the wrong position. It kind of works out if you attach the metal shelf supports upside down. This means that the hole in the bottom of the shelf will not be secured with the metal peg that inserts inside, but it can lean on the metal thing and that will have to do. Just when you think you can pull this off, you put a shelf on it and the bars, pegs and Ikea screws fly off, and the whole thing collapses, narrowly missing your 16 year old blind cat. Forget it.2. Made of solid/composite wood in Black Finish - which is very soft, arrives damaged and has that paint smell.3. Folds up for storage or moving - even if by some miracle you managed to put this together, I doubt you could fold it. The 4-tier one - yes. This one - no.4. Great for books or display your favorite things - entirely subjective. My opinion - not.5. 3-Tier Stackable Folding Shelf - they supply two small metal pieces to hold two units together. The unit is not deep enough to support that kind of weight.I actually purchased seven of these and after 4 hours with the first one, they are all going back. Life is too short.This is a nice bookshelf. Gave it four stars because the way it was advertised made me think it came assembled. Nope, although it was fairly easy overall and turned out looking good.I ordered two of these, and was able to get one of the two to completion without breaking anything. However, to do so took probably close to an hour. The instructed way to assemble puts shelves in last, which is near impossible to do without damaging the wood and/ or breaking the pegs on the shelves that hold the in place.My suggestion to the company is to review and make changes to the instructions. Better yet, assemble them before shipping. Because the shelves are collapsible, it wouldn’t be any larger to ship than it is when it comes in pieces. Also, those rotating pegs and the brackets to hold up the shelves really need to be bigger/ stronger to properly support the shelves and their future contents.To buyers, I’d think twice on this one. They are not particularly sturdy and , while they look ok, can look pretty rough if you have trouble assembling.Love this it holds all my shoesExcellent for closet or extra shelving for any room