The bed arrived in a box that looked like it had been dropped a few times and was broke open.  When I opened it the packaging was broke and the screws were loose in the box.  There were a couple of scratches on the head board and damage on the support pieces.  You definitely need a foundation for this bed as stated.  It took only about 15 min to put together. The bed itself is very nice, just wish the shipping would have been more careful with it.