Before purchasing this shelf, I read all the reviews and I was almost discouraged from purchasing by the bad reviews. There were a lot of complaints about assembly, and placement of the predrilled holes on the shelf. When I received the product I was pleasantly surprised to not have any of the described problems. With a little common sense, you can easily move the pegs to make them fit in the predrilled holes. The product is very sturdy and simple to assemble. Its small size makes it a perfect buy for anyone with limited space.

This product works nicely for a small space, but it was very mangled the first time we received it and still had a crack in it the second time (we sent the first one back and requested a new one). Overall it is a decent product for the money.

Good news for those of us looking for beautiful, inexpensive, quality furniture!!I got my Winsome Wood Folding 4-Tier Shelf, Natural today and put it togetherimmediately. Winsome has apparently been reading all the negative reviewsfor this item because I had none of the difficulties reported by previous buyers.In particular, the packaging was fine -- it came through without any damageto speak of -- and was well wrapped. It's a heavy item -- so, you have toexpect some damage to the box but as I say, the aforementioned bookcaseis unscathed. And the screws/hardware were appropriate and easy enough to screw intothe appropriately situated pre-drilled holes. This is good sturdy furniture.You only have to attach the top shelf -- and that's fine -- if they did it for you,then it would stick out and be susceptible to transit damage.You might ask, why do they make such a point that it can fold?Clearly, that's so that they can ship it better and pre-assembled, and more safely-- and so, if unlike me, you want it to fold, then you are in luck, it does fold nicely.Bottom line -- it's gorgeous, I love it, I wish I had an excuse to buy another one.

This is a great solid wooden shelving unit. I bought 2 and stacked them. They are sturdy, attractive and hold a great deal of school books.

The product was packaged securely. Amazingly easy to assemble. With the help of my 5 year old son, using his own tools, I was able to assemble 2 of them in less than 20 min. In fact, I loved them so much I ordered another one. Really great product for the price.

NOTE (9/16/2012): I just received four Winsome natural folding bookcases of the three-tier version, and they have taken a nosedive in quality (now manufactured in Vietnam, not Malaysia, and not made of beechwood any more). If this now applies to the four-tier version of the shelf, this product is no longer of any quality whatsoever!...This bookcase is perfect for snug areas, and it's very stable given its dimensions (just over a foot wide x 1 foot deep), though acrobatic children could be a problem for it. The downside to the slim dimensions is that, unlike the stackable 3-tier shelves, these are not screw/groove-prepped for stacking multiple units and do not contain that hardware found in the 3-tiers, although the legs (sides) are properly grooved underneath and above to allow stacking. The height of each shelf will make stacking under a standard 8' ceiling impossible.The important downside to the narrow width is these bookcases will not fold up perfectly after they're put together. Unlike the wider 3-tier shelves, the two legs (sides) obviously have to fold over each other, so once the shelf support pegs are installed in both sides, the legs can no longer close flush to the back of the case. This can be problematic for moving, since you either risk scratching/bending from an imperfect fold, or must unscrew the four shelf support pegs from the right leg. If frequent moving will not be done, this drawback will be a non-issue.I have found that the left four pre-installed (screwed) shelf support pegs consistently do not match the pilot holes for the shelf support peg screws on the right side, resulting in shelf support pegs that have a 1/4" discrepancy between left and right sides. On removing the pre-installed shelf support pegs, I discovered there were holes piloted in the correct spot (hidden by the shelf support pegs) that were not used by the factory (1/4" higher than the actual screws were drilled). It seems the machining was off in this process, and as long as the left leg shelf support pegs are re-installed (unscrewed and rescrewed) into the correct pilot holes that are originally hidden, the shelves will balance on either side.All in all, this is an inventive design that suits its purpose very well (the top shelf is perfect height for placement of a table lamp), and given this is a fine looking tropical hardwood bookcase that will hold as heavy a row of books as you can fit on each shelf, there is absolutely no better shelf for the money these cost.

This unit was very easy to assemble and looks very nice. It is perfect for what we wanted to use it for.

These shelves were a little tricky to put together, but the instructions were clear. They are EXACTLY what I expected and they were perfectly for my displays.

I got this in the mail today, and was very excited to start putting it together. It comes 3/4 assembled, and all you have to do is attached on the top shelf, and the 3 pegs to securely catch the other shelf (4 pegs were already installed. 5 minutes and the pegs were done. However I battled with the dang top shelf for 30+ minutes before I said to heck with it and installed only one of the rotating mechanisms that allow it to be flipped up. I'm going to install an L- bracket instead on the other spot because no matter how I tried I could not manipulate the brackets and shelf together in the tight space. Winsome Wood kindly attached all the other ones for me, but not the top. Its not a big deal, and its not like I am ever planning on collapsing the bookshelf. Its the perfect size to put next to the dresser that I will be using as a changing table for my son, and with the baskets, it stashes all the diaper changing necessities that I don't want to have piled up in my line of sight but need easy access to. If I had been able to get that top shelf on without the l-bracket, I would have given this a 5 star rating. Its very sturdy and will last my son a long time. Now to anchor it to the wall so that its not used as a ladder...

I needed a small (cheap) bookcase to match another table and 3-tier bookcase I purchased previously. This does what I need it to do and matches perfectly. Assembly took about 20 mins. I love the way it folds up for moving.

Just the right size for the space I planned for it, and sturdy enough to handle boxes of CD's and some books and a stereo speaker (albeit a small one). Relatively easy to put together, except for the top shelf, which gave me a few tough moments.Solid wood, so there won't be the 'sagging' of particle board stuff!

THESE SHELVES ARE SUPER HIGH QUALITY "REAL" WOOD. THEY COME TO YOU ALMOST COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED. ADD THE LAST FEW PARTS AND AWAY YOU GO. THEY FOLD UP TO ALMOST NOTHING, THEY ARE VERY STURDY, WINSOME MADE A WINNER ON THIS ITEM. I ENDED UP BUYING 2 OF THEM. THEY STAND ABOUT 4.5 TO 5 FT TALL SO THEY DON'T OVERPOWER A ROOM. JUST EXCELLENT. THIS ONE IS A WINNER.

I am very pleased with this unit. The assembly was easy and it looks good and fits perfectly between my refrigerator and microsave cart. I am using it to store the various oils, vinegars, soy sauces, spices, which frees up cabinet space and I don't have to get on a stool or chair to see what I have on hand.My original review just stated that i hadn't received the unit. The company takes our reviews very seriously and called many times until they reached me to see what could be done to satisfy me. We resolved the issue of late delivery.

I purchased this unit specifically for its size and it works well in the space. Easy to assemble and attractive. There were a few "dings" in the wood even though the packaging was undamaged ... who knows? In any event, it's up and serving its purpose and I'm happy - would have given 5 stars but for the scratches.

Good quality space saving unit with plenty of room for large and taller books. Finish is smooth and construction is very sturdy. All bookcases should be tall and narrow. Would love to see one even taller with 5 or 6 shelves. Folding makes it real easy to transport in any vehicle. Unfolded, it fits almost anywhere in a small room. Only improvement would be that it could arrive fully assembled rather than partially. It took me about an hour to complete the assembly, but it was worth it in the long run.

No surprises--not topmost quality, but assembled pretty easily, fit where I wanted to put it, and met my budget. No complaints.

I was able to put this bookcase together fairly easily, but the shelf brackets that were already in place when I opened the package were not all in the right places. I needed a power screw driver to take them out and re-insert them. It is fine now.

A really good and handy product!!! I have limited space in my bathroom and needed something for guests to put stuff on. This was perfect because I could fold it up and put it away when I didn't need it. It arrived in good condition and mostly assembled. I did not give it 5 stars because there were no assembly instructions, and, to fold totally flat, you have to loosen and move slightly one side of the metal supports so they don't get in the way when folded down. I avoided that whole problem by folding as far as it would go (nearly flat) and sliding it under my bed for storage. Perfect!

I bought 2 foldable [3 shelf] bookcases for my church to replace very heavy metal ones. These have some weight to them and seem to be strong. Being able to fold them to put them in storage is very handy for us. Fairly easy to put together and the black was black.

I bought this shelf (in black) about 18 months ago. It arrived with a couple minor scratches (as other reviewers have mentioned) from shipping. The shelf is very sturdy and well built (from solid wood unlike similarly priced products which are made of particle board) so I feel completely fine filling it with my college textbooks. I am planning to buy a second identical shelf in the near future.Initial assembly is a little complicated (as there are similar pieces with slight variations which make it hard to line up holes) but you only need to do that once. After it's assembled, it folds down easily which is great. I've moved twice since buying the shelf and it is a breeze to flatten the shelf, move it out of a building and place it in the back of a car.I wouldn't call it a piece of fine furniture, but a must have for a student that has lots of books and needs to move around frequently.