This is a sturdy, substantial cat scratch post, on a solid base. Assembly is easy, and, it looks as good as a standard cat scratch post can look. 
Although *my* particular post arrived with some (aesthetic) flawsdefects, the company responded to my email within hours, and, handled my complaint in an extremely kind and professional manner. 
They apologized profusely, and *promptly* made it right. 
They made me feel like a valued customer. 
I would buy again.