I received the shelving unit about 3 weeks ago and put it together that night. It was much faster to assemble than a traditional shelving unit which goes together with nuts and bolts. I was by myself and it took about 40 minutes to assemble -- most of that time involved picking up the brackets and bringing them to the shelving unit. I think it you had 2 people this could be assembled in 15 minutes. The unit seems to be really sturdy and I have used it to store paint cans and other heavy items in my garage.