I like these units for the money. They are finished pressboard, more than sturdy enough. The shelves are very thin, but sit on supports, so they support a whole ream of paper. I bought this exact unit in grey 15 years ago and have liked it. But it took a hard fall, which it's not built to take. So I ordered it again. It's the same thing, except now the shelves are full-on cardboard / fiberboard. No color, no smooth finish. The rear cover piece that seals up the back side is also now a light grey cardboard-- it used to match the unit. The current (8/2018) description pictures show the shelves as cardboard as well as matching. My grey one came in cardboard. I just kept the matching shelves and backer from my old unit. Otherwise I'd not be happy with the cardboard shelves. It's crossing the line to me. But if you don't mind that, it's a good choice. Final note: I find the shelf pulls come off once in a while, so I recommend gluing them on.

The product is what you pay for. It is compressed wood product for top, bottom, and sides. The back is cardboard, and the shelves are a little heavier than cardboard. The trick to this product is assembly. Good illustration, but not good with description. When you put the dowels in you need to hammer them almost all the way in. You will leave about 3/8" showing. That way when you hammer (with protection) you wont puncture through the bottom or top, or push a bubble. I used a notepad for protection. In other words, I took the board with the dowels on both ends, and hammered into the bottom and top with a pad where the hammer struck so it would not damage the pressed board. If you use both of these precautions (small portion of dowel sticking out, and using a notepad to take the brunt of the hammer) it should go together quickly. It is a heavy product, not wobbly. It will work for my crafting papers well. I should have looked at all the parts before I put together. My top has a bubble, not from hammering. It is cosmetic and I am not going to bother putting another one together. If I ever win the lottery, I won't put another piece of
furniture together-ever.

I am so very disappointed with this purchase. It was very expensive and I decided to splurge, for my new classroom. The instructions for putting it together were terrible... there are pieces that are supposed to be dipped in water before they are inserted into the shelves. Some of them were not pushed in far enough (the directions did NOT say how far to put them in) and when we went to put the pieces all together, they would not budge (i'm guessing because of the water) so no I have gaps in every one of the corners and in trying to get those to go away, the "wet" pieces started buldging out the top of it. It really bothers me, every time I have to look at it. Don't buy this one!!

Generally, I really like Safco products that I've purchased in the past. This one says "Wood Adjustable..." and the picture is not at all clear about the shelves, but, that's where the trouble begins. Unlike my other Safco sorters, these shelves are and look like, cheap thick cardboard that is ill-sized. They do NOT sit permanently or even safely on their metal pegs the way they have in the past. If your hand simply brushes up against one of the shelves, the whole thing loses its hold on the back pegs and falls down. Also, one of the things that I recall is that in the past the shelves were sturdier and had a paper covered surface that looked like the grain of the rest of the organizer. Secondly, this is not wood, but wood composite, and hitting the dowels into their holes made them chip out through the bottom of the cabinet, leaving a bunch of pieces of wood chips on the floor. This is not as good as the Safco products were formerly made. I haven't put it into place yet, but I'm frankly worried about it carrying the weight of the things I shall place on the organizer - the same things I put on the previous one, but fewer of them. Maybe it will perform well, but I'm just not as happy with this Safco product as I have been with past products from the same company. Disappointed. I wouldn't say to not buy this, but do be aware that you're NOT getting a wood cabinet, but a wood particle product. ;-( Well, now I have had this piece of junk in place for months, and all I can think of doing is getting rid of it, which I AM going to do. I've already purchased a replacement from another company whose products I know better, and I can't wait until I throw this pile of &*() out. Everything I've ever put into it ends up on the shelf below it or on the floor because of the incredible instability of the shelf "system". Do NOT buy this. It isn't worth the money, and you can't glue cardboard shelves to metal pegs unless you want to have sticky epoxy glue dripping down - even the 5-minute epoxy glue. This is a horrible product.

I have bought 2 of these so far (April, 2016 and July, 2016) and I plan to buy a 3rd. The individual shelves on the first one I bought are a little smaller than they should be and when I am removing or adding more brochures, the shelf may fall so I have to put it back on the pegs it is resting on. However, by the second one they had increased the size so that the shelves do not fall so easily when I am putting brochures into them. I like the fact that I can adjust the shelves so they can accommodate the brochures I have a lot of, so I put them on the bottom shelf and take out shelves above so I can fit them all in together. Overall, the shelf is pretty sturdy and I will probably have these for quite a while. It will be interesting when I get the third because I plan to put it on top of one of the others, which I am supposed to be able to do. As you can see from my picture, the top is pretty sturdy and can hold a lot.