I also have a very similar rack from a brand called Muscle Rack, also sold here on Amazon and nearly identical in appearance which I purchased to store camera equipment. The downside to the Muscle Rack version was that it only had 4 tiers. I saw the Edsal rack online and seemingly identical in appearance and with an extra shelf it seemed like an instant winner. It's close but there are a couple differences that make this rack not as amazing as one would hope.

First I do like the rack. Its very similar in construction to the rack I have using similar materials. I also like that the shelves are solid as wire shelves are often a pain for small objects. The biggest gripe I have is with the installation.

The product comes with the four legs as 8 pieces and to attach them to make it the full height one has to perform a feat worthy of an octopus as they instruct you to put the four legs above the existing four legs and simultaneously add the four pieces to form the shelf. It's almost impossible as each leg when attached is only attached by a single point so it falls over. I had 2 people help me hold pieces as I put it in place and this was the only way to get it all together.

The Muscle Rack shelf on the other hand came with connectors that hold the legs together so it can be easily done by a single person. Not sure why Edsal decided not to use this piece as it makes the entire unit more sturdy at the connection between levels. Especially considering that these two racks almost seem to be made by the same company. The other major problem with the way the Edsel is connected at the spot between the two levels is that if you picked up the unit by the upper half you risk the entire top half of the unit coming apart and this could be a hazard as its quite heavy. So if you keep your rack in one spot and never touch it you should be fine but be forewarned to only lift from the bottom half.

Pros
- Does seem sturdy
- Shelves are solid and well made
- Attractive unit
- 5 shelves vs 4 on other similar units
- Flexibility to place shelves in many locations
- Price

Cons
- Installation of the two halves is not a one man job and aggravating
- No way to level can require shims
- No connector between halves makes a tough install but also possibly dangerous

I ordered three of these shelving units that were listed as PRIME items and only one showed up on time. The other two showed a couple of days later. Two of the three boxes arrived with missing pieces. Each box contained a piece of paper with a phone number on it to contact in the event there were missing pieces. Odd. I contacted them and I was greeted with a friendly representative who asked me what I ordered and what was missing. She simply took my address and told me they would be to me a few days. Super easy! I am still disappointed that boxes were missing pieces to begin with (reason for only 4 stars), but the company was easy to work with and resolved my concern quickly and without fuss.
The shelving itself is great and look great too. The vertical angle pieces seem just slightly flimsy but are more than adequate to support the shelves and tons of weight. When assembled the shelves are solid. I recommend two people when assembling. It can be done with one person but is much easier with two. Overall, very happy with the shelves. Looking forward to get the missing pieces in the mail and will be ordering a couple more of these units.

I bought this shelf unit to put into a six ft wide sliding door closet. Did not quite believe most of the reviews which were either glowing or scathing. Well, I have finished putting it together and I am ready to review it. First I was very disappointed to see that the shelves were about 1/4 inch of unsealed particle board. (They will absorb moisture). Next there were no instructions, just one page of parts list and a drawing (not very good) of the assembled unit. So I found several YouTube videos on-line demonstrating assembly. It was amusing watching the guys put on a piece, then go to a different part while the piece fell out of the first slot over and over again. I cant BELIEVE the reviewer who said the shelf unit was very easy to assemble. Some said it took only ten minutes. IMPOSSIBLE! It took me about three hours to assemble. And it seemed to be not quite true I think because all of the buttons would not seat. The unit does rock some so I had to shim the legs. And I securely screw the shelf unit into the wall behind it to further stabilize it. Also, I managed to dent some of the shelf holders with my MALLET! Come on, they should be stronger than that. There is NO WAY I would put more than about 100 lbs on each shelf. And the spec of 3500 lbs has got to be a misprint. All that said I finally got it assembled and it will hold the low weight boxes I intend to put on it.

Buyer Beware! Edsal recently changed the design and the new ones are in much lower quality. I can now understand why some people love and some people hate them in their reviews.

I ordered some of these shelves twice - about a month apart (5/28 and 6/30). I really like the quality of the shelves received on 5/28 so I ordered more on 6/30. When I received my second order, I was totally disappointed with the quality. As soon as I opened the package, I noticed a slightly different parts. My suspicion was confirmed when I weighed and measured them. As you can see in the images, the beams are lighter and shorter. They bend easily when I hit them with rubber mallet to assemble. The particle boards are smaller in size. Overall, the new design feels cheap and lower quality compared to the same model I received a month ago.

I contacted Edsal directly and Scott H. from Edsal replied "Yes, there was a design change to these units over a year ago. The "old" unit you received a month ago, which shipped out of Amazon's stock, was indeed the old style. The newer unit you just received is the new style. We do not have any of the old ones any more and don't even have the tooling anymore to make the old style. I'm sorry but I really don't have an easy fix for you on this issue."

To easily differentiate the two, the old one has metallic rivets and 25 slots on open posts while the new one has smaller black rivets and 24 slots on open posts. The newer ones come with small rubber feet protectors but the are junks too.

I don't mind if they change metallic rivets to black rivets. Too bad they can't use the same quality materials for the rest of the unit in their new design.

It was perfect for what we wanted to have in our garage (some shelves to keep our stuff off the floor). We are thinking of getting one more!