THese bookends are doing the job for me right now. There's not much to them. In fact I felt a little like a sucker when I unpacked them because they're just a couple pieces of bent steel (or something). Then I thought about it, and I decided that I'd rather have someone else find and bend the steel, because I have no idea how to do that kind of stuff. I'd probably make a big mess, ruin my steel (or whatever), leave it in the middle of the room, and then just use extra-large cans of beans (or bricks or something)as bookends. THese bookends are worth the price, and actually much more effective than beans.