Does anyone have any experience with these quality-wise? Good, bad, indifferent? I have never seen one in person so I am a bit wary of purchasing one over the internet.
Here is a site that is selling them:

http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/Crossbows.html

Having taken a look at the crossbows, I was slightly puzzled that the crossbow that comes without a windlass is lacking a stirrup to hold the bow's muzzle (for lack of a better term) down while cocking. I've admittedly never tried cocking my friend's 75-pdr without using the stirrup, but imagine it would be a trifle difficult.

Have you investigated New World Arbalest? Their crossbows run a trifle more than the Deepeeka ones ($270-300 for most of their bows), and their products seem to be of decent quality. (The 75-pdr I referred to above is a New World bow.) Their website is:

www.crossbows.net

Hope this helps!

I haven't handled the bows, but looking at the pictures I would say that they are only superficially historically accurate and are a little rough around the edges which would make me wonder whether I would trust the prod (bow) itself. The price is undoubtedly good, but you get what you pay for and when I have a highly tensioned chunk of steel being pulled back toward my face I would rather pay more...........

Saying that steel bows are very inefficient in comparison to wood or composite (either sinew/horn or fibreglass) and to get any serious delivery you need to start with a big bow, they were popular for military bows however because there is basically no end to the power you make a spring to. Both wooden and composite bows had limited power simply because they would break if you tried to go too high. Composite bows also required far more skill and time to make and so were more expensive. I guess what I am rambling about is that a 75llb or even a 120llb bow in steel (as they are advertised) will be outdistanced by a decent 35llb longbow so don't get too excited about the advertised power. If you want a steel prodded bow to really shift you need to be thinking of 200llb plus.

The products from New World Arbalest seem well thought out and I strongly suspect have very good quality control.

If you just want to play with something, fine. If you are a reenactor or serious collector I would suggest spending as much as you can to get the best you can and only spend your money once.

Lin,
I bought their Maintz Gladius as a gift for a friend. It included a metal scabbard which looked like it had been through a spin cycle or two. The bone handle had a crack in it and the overall sword felt clunky and screamed "third world". You get what you pay for of course but this is something I would be embarrassed to give as a gift. I'm in the process of exchanging it for the Paul Chen Gladius.