Purchased items incur import duties. Regardless of whether they were purchased from a professional seller, a manufacturer, or a private person, and regardless of whether the item is new or used.
Gifts also incur import duties above a certain value threshold, depending on the laws of the country you're importing to.
The threshold for gifts imported into Germany, for example, is a ridiculously puny 45EUR. To add insult to injury, that 45 EUR
includes shipping cost — which makes it virtually impossible to send something from the US to Germany "for free" since the shipping cost alone is often already higher than that threshold.
I get that it's annoying. But what I don't understand is why this topic keeps cropping up at such regular intervals. Same goes for the somewhat steeper international cost of shipping itself. Do you guys really think that the things you purchase at your local store don't cost as much to import? Because
of course they do. It's just already wrapped into the purchase price. And so even though you're not quite as aware of it, you're still paying the same fees and taxes as you do when you import goods from Schiit.
Personally, as frustrating as it may be to be reminded of those fees, duties, and taxes, I prefer the transparency. That way, at least you know who gets to keep how much. That way it makes it much harder for your government to hide their taxes and duties than it would be in the case of a single lump sum.
Which, incidentally, I am convinced is the main reason why Europeans are "ok" with paying such outrageous VAT rates (19% in Germany, for example), while US-Americans are not: In Europe, the VAT is always included in the purchase price, you almost never get to see the net price of what you're buying. If you want to know how much of that the vendor gets to keep, you have to get calculating.
If you buy, say, a Vali, you know that Schiit gets 149USD. That's as fair and transparent as it gets. And for the difference, I suggest you take that up with your shipping agent and that you keep this in mind whenever you have to choose who to vote for.
The alternative would be for Schiit to raise their prices
considerably! across the entire product lineup and then offer "free" international shipping and/or "domestic" distribution outlets in each of the countries they sell enough wares into. And by "considerably," I mean 30-50% at least, because that stuff sure ain't cheap! So when all is said and done, you'd still be paying roughly as much as you're already paying, it'll just be hidden behind a much higher purchase price.