I am being charged £165.78 for one parcel and £102 for the second, this is what Parcelforce told me over the phone, the order was from Canada, the items I ordered I could not get in the UK, I could get similar but not what we required, the majority of charges are made by Parcelforce, they are only football medals and ribbon. £13.50 is not double £8. I think the reason they charge extra is obvious - it is an express parcel so has to be "fast-tracked" through the customs process, hence extra costs. If they didn't charge extra then the standard cost would need to be higher to compensate for this. No, Parcelforce do all the work on behalf of customs (see below) They have the choice to accept or reject. If they do not wish to pay the VAT and/or handling fee they have the opportunity to reject the item - it will then be returned to sender and no fees will be due. Why you have to pay a handling fee: The process is quite complex but I will try to explain to the best of my knowledge... When you receive an item from overseas, you become the importer by law. This means you could be liable for customs charges before delivery. Instead of the items having to go via HMRC, Parcelforce perform work on behalf of HMRC to speed up the process, and also pay the customs charge on your behalf to make things simpler. In addition to the customs fee, Parcelforce will levy a 'handling charge' to cover their costs. Some of the work they have to do to process your item includes: - operating the postal customs depot - handling the package for customs examination - (if required) opening, repacking and resealing the package (for example if information is missing from the declaration - paying the customs fee on your behalf (This list is not exhaustive - just some of the work which I know takes place - there may be a lot more to it in the background which we are unaware of). Therefore I do not believe you will get anywhere with challenging the fee - especially as they are permitted to charge this under Article 165 of EC Regulation (EEC) 2454/93