Titan's five-foot barbell is a good quality product. I enjoy using it, though I've only had it a few days. Titan Fitness products ship from several locations in the US. Once a tracking number is assigned, I got a "ready to go" email, with a wildly optimistic delivery date - Fedex didn't actually pick up and start moving the order for several days. I emailed customer service about this - they responded quickly. "Ready to go" also meant that my payment went from pending to posted, even though the order hadn't moved, at all. This barbell was initially located at a Titan Brands facility in central CA, 2800 miles from my home - i.e. six days on the road. During this period, Fedex pretty much trashed the cardboard tube the barbell was packed in. One of the tube's end caps was gone - the caps are plastic and wired to the tube. The end of the barbell was sticking out of the broken tube on delivery. The chrome plating on the exposed sleeve was chipped. Given this was an $80 item, I decided not to complain to Titan - just not worth the hassle. The barbell was otherwise undamaged - it isn't bent, the sleeves roll properly and end-play is acceptable. As a point of reference, my only other barbell is a Rogue C-70S. It was made in and shipped from Ohio. The shipping tube was thicker than Titan's and arrived undamaged. The end caps were metal, stapled to the tube. It was shipped by UPS. The barbell was delivered in pristine condition. Would I spend $300+ on a Titan barbell? Absolutely not.