Sauder Miscellaneous Storage 5-Shelf Bookcase/ Book shelf, Select Cherry finish

I love this bookshelf! It looks really nice. If Amazon had a half star option, I'd be giving it 4.5 stars. The reasons I'm docking off half a star are: 1) There was a scratch on one of the top front pieces. However, it's not very large or super noticable, and I'm sure I could cover it with a similar colored Sharpie or something, so I didn't bother trying to get a replacement because that would just be a hassle. But the packaging the shelf came in wasn't damaged at all, so I'm guessing it happened when the pieces were being put in the box. But things happen, I'm not upset about is as it's an easy enough fix. 2) I read a lot of reviews saying this was easy to put together, but I wouldn't necessarily say it was easy. I'm fairly handy with tools, having put together a lot of furniture and doing minor home repairs on my own. I put this bookshelf together by myself. It took a couple hours and some steps required a lot of arm/hand strength to get the screws in, and I ended up stripping a lot of the screws just trying to get them screwed all the way in. I'm thinking using a drill would have made things a lot easier, but the instructions say not to and I'm usually one to do things by the book, so I didn't. However, if I had to put together another one of these, I think I'd probably go ahead and just use a drill for some of the steps to save time and avoid getting frustrated. 3) Some reviews say that the shelf doesn't seem sturdy on the sides, like it'll topple over onto itself, but I disagree. It seems very sturdy once put together and I'm not at all worried about it falling apart. BUT, I'm not so sure that it wouldn't fall forward if pulled on or hit. I have 2 dogs (50 and 60 lbs) that sometimes play rough, so I absolutely used the safety strap to attach it to the wall because I'm not confident that the shelf wouldn't fall forward if they were playing and rolled into it or something. I do have it on a carpeted floor, so maybe on a hardwood floor it would feel more stable. I don't like that the safety strap pokes through a big hole in the backboard of the bookshelf. I feel like the hole doesn't need to be so big. I ended up cutting the circle that comes off the backboard, leaving enough of a space for the safety strap to poke through, and then taping the rest of the circle back in place from the back so it's not as visible. Overall, I think this is a well made, beautiful piece of furniture. I'm glad this is the one I chose to purchase, and I have no regrets in buying it. I think it will hold up for quite a while. Also, props to the Amazon driver who delivered it! It was a little heavy, and I was home by myself and worried I wouldn't be able to get it inside on my own without opening it and carrying it in piece by piece. It was raining though, and that wouldn't be ideal, so he carried it inside and set it down in my living room for me. He was very nice and I appreciate him taking that extra step to make my life a little easier!

Solid, quality piece of furniture, looks great, easy assembly. Very happy with it and proud of myself for choosing the right one. Thinking of saving 80 or 100 bucks and buying a cheaper version? Don't do it, not worth it.

Review of **Sauder Miscellaneous Storage 5-Shelf Bookcase** In this review, I’ll tell you the many GOOD things about this bookcase, the biggest DANGER you need to avoid, and read this whole review to see how I destroyed my bookcase, and how I FIXED it. First, I’ve been a customer of Sauder products for quite literally decades. This bookcase is an EXCELLENT product, in line with their typical products, and exhibiting how they have refined their products over the decades. This bookcase, like every other Sauder product I have purchased, is at the top of the offerings for AFFORDABLE furniture. Yeah, “affordable” is another word for “cheap,” but Sauder makes the very best cheap you-assembe-it-yourself furniture. *****THE GOOD***** The package arrived in the time expected, and it was VERY well packed. Not a single one of the parts was damaged, and all the parts were present. The instructions were one of the most refined and best parts. They were very clear, with excellent diagrams, great part labelling, both in the instruction booklet and on each part or plastic bag of loose parts. Even with my AMD-failing eyesight, I was able to easily determine which things went where. The instruction booklet was of a very good size, at least 8.5x11” and maybe a bit larger – we have all seen products who have their instruction manual printed in micro-print on a 2”x3” booklet in 27 languages on each page. Not here. They have other language manuals available, but I only had to deal with English in the manual I used. This is very much appreciated. Next, the manual did only ONE STEP at a time, usually one step per page. The pictures and the description of what to do in each step were crystal clear, well organized, and easy to follow. The next good thing was all the parts were perfectly sized, situated, drilled, and pre-measured. Everything fit exactly where it was supposed to fit, with very little jiggling to align, and zero mismatched pre-drilled holes. The craftsmanship of the product was outstanding. I was most of the way through assembling the bookcase and was thinking I had to do a really good writeup about this product. But right near the end … disaster. *****THE BAD ***** First, all the “wood” parts are made out of fine-grain PARTICLE BOARD. This allows Sauder to have excellent control over the quality (smoothness, sizing, etc.) of their parts, and allows them to also keep the price down on this unit. (And all their offerings?) If you do everything right, this is fine, and the product will last a long time, as long as you don’t abuse it. Second, the design of the bookcase produces a fatal flaw when combined with a serious lack of warnings in the instructions. The main design flaw is that the side panels of the bookcase, instead of being one long (69”) piece of “wood” as it should be, is instead TWO PIECES, held together by concealed (cam bolt) fasteners. This is a huge vulnerability to damage, that they DO NOT warn you about. Keep reading to see why this resulted in my disaster. ***** DISASTER! ***** What they DON’T TELL YOU in the assembly instructions is this: In the last step, when you put the bookcase on its face on the floor so you can nail the wood-printed cardboard backing onto the back of the case, (PAY ATTENTIONHERE) the bookcase is supported ONLY at the top and the bottom by moldings, and everything in between the top molding and the bottom molding is suspended about an inch off the floor. WARNING! Because of this, you MUST NOT put any weight at all on the center of the bookcase, or you will rip out the side piece fasteners! When I got down onto the floor to nail in the backing, when I finished one side, I just naturally put my hand on the bookcase to help myself get up (hey, I’m old. I need this help). Because they FAILED TO WARN ME not to do this, I did it, and totally destroyed my boockcase. The joint between the top and bottom parts of the side panel ripped out the fasteners, including destroying the particle board where the fasteners were embedded. ***** TO AVOID SUFFERING THIS DISASTER ***** If you are reading this and want to buy this bookcase (and have not yet assembled it), then BE SURE to put a solid brace under the joint between the upper and lower side panels, so if you inadvertently put some weight there, you won’t rip out your fasteners, like I did. ***** THE FIX ***** At first, I just wanted to throw up my hands and send the whole thing back. After all, Amazon has a magnificent return policy. … BUT … I did NOT want to spend another 2 hours disassembling everything I had already put together, and NO WAY would I be able to fit all the parts and pieces back into the box it came in (much of it got destroyed on opening), and I did NOT want to haul the >83-pound unit to my Amazon return center. The item specs say it has a “5-year limited warranty,” but I’m sure any warranty claim would be a huge hassle, and I did not want to have to deal with that, simply because they failed to include an appropriate warning in their instructions. … SO … I decided to glue it back together with wood glue. My bottle of wood glue was old and only had less than ½” of sludgy glue in the bottom, so I went to my local mega-mart shopping for wood glue, but I found … construction adheasive! I bought that (the brand named after a giant ape). I applied that adhesive and put the two (now separated) halves (top and bottom) back together, let it cure for a day, and it’s now serving very well. ***** IF YOU HAVE A SIMILAR DISASTER ***** If you do the same “duh” thing I did, and wind up with a fully-assembled and broken bookcase, then get another person to help, apply construction adhesive to the top of the bottom section, then hold up the top section while your helper carefully re-aligns and helps you seat the top section properly on the bottom section. (I missed toing this and my finished product is solidly slightly mis-aligned.) ***** THE BOTTOM LINE ***** I am actually VERY happy with this bookcase. It is very well made for the price, the instructions are OUTSTANDING, except for the egregious omission of the “DON’T LEAN OR PUT WEIGHT HERE” warning. It is serving well for exactly the purpose for which I bought it. Yes, I’m UNHAPPY that Sauder failed to warn me that I could destroy my bookcase by leaning on it while it was face down. But I (kinda) fixed that. BONUS: I bought (on Amazon) a 6-pacck of rechargeable motion sensor under-shelf lights, and am very happy with those. They light up the shelves ever time I approach the bookcase, and stay on for only 20 seconds after I leave. I hope this review helps future potential buyers, and give Sauder the motivation to add the “DON’T LEAN HERE” warning to their assembly instructions soon. Good luck, and take care, everyone.

The bookcase is solid, well constructed, and beautiful. It took me a little over an hour to assemble it, which didn't seem unreasonable, and the instructions were thorough and easy to follow. (They even included a touch of humor, which I appreciated.) It's made out of "engineered wood," which used to be called particle board. Not my first choice, but real wood bookcases are becoming almost impossible to find and are outrageously expensive. I bought this to replace a different design of Sauder particle board bookcase, which had sagged noticeably over the years. When I looked back and realized that it had served me well for over forty years, which included five moves and six years in long term storage while I was stationed overseas, I decided that maybe well designed particle board bookcases weren't so bad after all. The weight capacities listed in the Amazon specs were screwy, as they varied according to what color finish (wood grained adhesive vinyl) you selected. I contacted Sauder, and they told me "The 412835 5-Shelf Bookcase has 3 adjustable shelves that can hold up to 25 pounds. The fixed middle shelf can hold up to 30 pounds and the bottom can hole up to 40 pounds." That's 145 pounds total.

Great, sturdy, beautiful. I'm planning on replacing the other 2 old Ikea bookshelves with this model (I know, I know, but Krevbäck bookshelves where the most amazing bookshelves Ikea ever made, they even lasted 8 moving sessions. Of course they discontinued them!). If you are hesitating buying those, here's what's up with them: Yeah, they might have minor scratches, it happens, mine had none I easily noticed. Read the .... manual. It says not to tighten the screws too much for the upper part, because if you do, you will go through the wood and it doesn't look great (It's still not that noticeable, I got lucky). It's very heavy. Unless you're strong (you can always move it sideways and wiggle it like I did), get someone to help put in into position once you're done assembling it. It offers way more space than I originally thought it would. My Krevbäck a pretty wide, these aren't much wider, yet I could fit way more books per shelves. Amazing! It's better quality than most you'll see in stores and cheaper.

組立大変だった。二人以上で。 出来上がりは、素晴らしい特に木肌の色が何ともいえない。

Perfect colour for my needs and easy for one person to assemble

Pésimo empacado! Producto de mediana calidad.

El mueble es bueno…. Su armado requiere habilidades y ayuda. Trajo dos detalles en las molduras seguramente provocadas por el mal manejo del paquete