The stand arrived quickly and went together well. The steel is solid and the large platform is steady. The flip-up seat is very important- it gives you a lot more flexibility and safety for standing shots in any direction. IMO much more comfortable than the curved fabric seats that don't flip up and give you terrible back support. The cloth was a bit tight though, and flips up to about 45 degrees on it's own when you stand up. Bare metal was showing on a few spots where the stand was scratched during packing or shipping. (Packing was similar to other stands I have purchased- I don't know why they don't put in some thin padding between the parts in the box!). The two 7/16 wrenches on the parts list were not in the box, but I would have used my own anyways because the ones they put in the box are thin and hard to use. One other slight negative was that the strap for the lower brace was barely big enough for an 18" tree. We got it on, but another foot or two would have been nice. Overall I am happy with the stand and did in fact buy another.