My 1996 Honda accord will not easily shift into 3rd and 5th gear ONLY SOMETIMES when it doesn't I have to try about 2-3 times before it will go into gear eventually

Tranny stop slip would only work in an automatic tranny. Number 47, you are right on the money. :)

The only chance you have of not replacing the transmission is by trying a bottle of "Lucas Transmission Stop Slip". It may smooth things out for a while but its not a permanent solution. You can buy it at any auto parts store. Hope this helps.

There could only be a couple possibilities for this to happen. First, with standard shift transmissions the shifter linkage could be worn being that it only happens with 3rd and 5th gears, as this shifter slide works for both of these gears. If this is the case it is only a matter of visually inspecting the linkage for worn or broken parts and replacing them or adjusting the linkage which is the inexpensive fix that I hope you are looking at. Second, This could be caused by the syncronizers within the transmission are going bad/worn or broken. In either case the transmission will need to be removed and repaired or replaced which is the expensive route that I pray is not the way you have to go! I hope that this is some help.