The great part about this base is that it is very heavy and the umbrella was easily placed in it. The part I'm less happy about is that one of the washers for the bottom was missing; it appears that the whole package had been opened once (1 of the 4 styrofoam pieces was missing) and one of the bolts/washers was off. I found the bolt in the packaging, but the washer was missing altogether. I didn't want to return this or wait for a replacement, so I'm hoping it's good enough.