Aries Cerat

Im curious if anyone here in the US has actually ordered a piece of gear from this Aries Cerat, which is based out of Cyprus.  I was quoted a price for a Dac which as it turns out after special shipping and "handling" is almost doubled the list price.  Is this normal? And if so, how do smaller companies such as Lampizator and the recent "giant killer", Lab 12 Dac manage to import to the US at a much lower cost.