Shelf is fine for a relatively inexpensive piece of furniture.  It isn't as sturdy as a solid wood bookcase, but I didn't expect it to be.  All the wood shelf pieces arrived undamaged (unlike some of the other reviewers experiences), and it looks nice enough once I put everything on it for display.  Note that the shelf depth listed is inaccurate - for the 4 shelf 63x38x17 version, the shelves are only 14.5" deep, NOT 16" as listed in the 'shelf' dimensions.