I am very happy with this purchase. The photos are straight out the box the day it was delivered. It arrives like a huge heavy rolled tube, and is wrapped extremely tight. So tight that we used scissors, and patiently, slowly, carefully, snipped the tight plastic wrap all the way down. I would suggest not using a sharp knife or box cutter, because it would be too easy to accidently slice or damage the futon. It expands immediately while opening it becoming big and unwieldy to handle. It took me and my husband to lift it onto my old sofa. He pressed it into the creases. Its firm and very comfortable. I spend a lot of time on it. It gave my old sofa a new life. We had to remove the old sofa pillows though to put the futon on it. I found the dark color to look rich and attractive. It upgraded the room. Happy with this puchase.