(in my experience) if this table included other flat-pack vendors the difference would be stark. Wayfair and the like are far more complex to assemble.

Agreed. Whenever we end up getting non-IKEA furniture I preemptively cringe as I open the instructions.

The only time I’ve had a mistake building IKEA furniture was after opening both pieces of a combo shelf at once: there was a subtle but relevant distinction between the crossbars that was not obvious from the instructions, because ordinarily you wouldn’t have pieces from another shelf to confuse with each other.