Mainstay` 71" 5-Shelf Standard Bookcase (Black)

While it looks nice from the photos and looking from a distance, the product is poorly designed and the components fail easy. The components were also lacking.I found I needed a specific sized hex key from the beginning but could not find it specifically via the directions and by a quick glance at the components bag. I was forced to dig through my set of other hex keys from previous projects to find one that worked.In the process of putting together the furniture several of the silver rotating tabs that are supposed to lock in the screws either broke or bent. I had to use gorilla glue to fill in the weak areas to keep it strong. Further after I had tightened one as per the directions it actually busted out the side of the particle board like an angry pimple. More gorilla glue. At that point I used more gorilla glue to line all of the seams to help ensure some level of strength.The real support did not come until the flimsy backing was attached to the frame where i found it was missing a few of the nails needed to attach it. Thank goodness for other previous products providing extras I could use. So that backing... It seemed it was held together by tape and the fact that the backing was a critical component in keeping the product stable was disturbing. I should not need that kind of backing to keep the product from falling apart. A few extra solid pieces of wood could have made all the difference. I suggest you re-engineer this product to add a little bit of quality into it for the price.I will not be buying anything like this again. I will be better off looking for second hand real wood items that have been discarded and spending a few bucks refurbishing them myself.

I too, was taken in by thinking that I was getting 30 inch shelves. They measure 23.5 inches. This is deceptive advertising. I had purchased a Mainstay 5-shelf Bookcase about 10 years ago and it was identical as advertised and I was expecting the same product with this purchase. Wrong -- on my part. The original bookcase had full length sides and this bookcase has a two-piece sides configuration which weakens the sturdiness of the completed product. And again, this is not an actual piece of furniture because it is a press board or particle board product and not an actual wood product. One nice thing, was the price. I', keeping this product because I'm not going through the long and tedious process of returning it because of the false advertising. Keep trying. Maybe some day your product will be apprciated.

Okay first off- this is a 6'x2'x1' (h-w-d) bookshelf DELIVERED for 44-60 bucks total. So you have to view it on this light, which for that alone these are amazing. Yes- it is a particle board and veneer paper unit. But you still can't buy the raw material for this price. Pros- the assembly was easy- and tbh the instruction sheet was pretty impressive for something in this day and age and this price point. Also each of the hardware parts were on their own sealed plastic baggie compartment. It's a fairly sturdy and roomie beast and you could likely add shelves- if you want toale itore stable and sturdyaune get se cheap corner brackets, angle or corner irons. Yes the back.is cardboard- you can change to cheap luan plywood for 7$ and se screws. This is worth the $. I do woodworking- I am.not going to compare a 50$ item to even 100$ set of shelves, so it would be unfair to give these less than 5 stars based on what you pay for them. You can't buy them in the store and drag them home for this price let alone have the heavy package delivered to you.NOW- the only downside- I initially ordered through a seller here that had good reviews, but very few and all recent. After a question about tracking number,I got an email response (and all subsequent responses) in the middle of the night in understandable but non- american syntax English, and with constantore than questionable explanations and the lie that they were "US (inland)" company. It was obvious that they weren't (which I even told them, if I got my item on time I'd be fine). They refunded my money with some crock about "returned to them saved in shipping). I ordered from an eBay seller the next day and had these 2 days later. With the drop ship boom, this seems to be a popular item- and many sellers list erican addresses, but these are just fronts for foreign drop shippers of varying reliability and trustworthiness, so be wary of that. And leave feedback for the seller on the seller section NOT Here.

Let's start from the beginning: This bookshelf comes packed in a box with a bunch of Styrofoam strips that are guaranteed to leave clingy white shit sticking to the shelf for months after you assemble it.The first step to assembling the bookshelf is to screw down the strap that will eventually hold the shelf against the wall, but that strap couldn't hold up my scrotum, let alone a bookshelf (I know because I tried).Assembling isn't too bad for most of the process, you can tell this wood went through a big ass factory and that no real carpentry went anywhere near this. You will almost certainly get a splinter assembling this cheap deathtrap.The last phase where you nail the cheap cardboard backing onto the rear of the shelf is always the worst part, as if the backing isn't line up perfectly and your nails struck through with Enemy At the Gates Jude Law accuracy, you end up splitting the wood on the other side. You are almost certainly going to call it quits halfway through, as it's future trying to nail two even rows of nails into the middle frame that is as thick as a hamster's pens.So you'll finally have it assembled and you'll stand it up to find the whole shelf is about as steady as Bernie from a Weekend at Bernie's. You will probably scratch the everliving crap out of your hardwood flooring getting it into place and by the time you fill your shelves with books you'll realize that this is just a cheap value bookshelf, nothing more and nothing less.On the whole, decent bookshelf for the money.