Just like the rest of the world - there's good and there's bad.  Some but not many allow appraisers to earn full fees adding their fee on top.  Others want appraisers to work for nothing so they can get a cut of the fee.  I've seen fees for a straight 1004 ranging from $175 to $325.  The real lowballers rely on starving appraisers who need the work to do it for extremely discounted fees.  The more frustrating aspect is that the lender will pay substantially more through a AMC to rid themselves of the hastle of locating and ordering an appraisal which has become quite easy now-a-days with the internet and the many search tools available.  I have never paid a start up fee.  Some appraisal websites that have contacted me do have fees though.  I look over their agreements and terms and fill most of them out deciding to opt who I'll do work for when they call with an order.  They're multiplying rapidly as of late and it seems that every small and large appraisal firm seems to want a cut of the total pie with many branching out into areas they cannot cover and trying to build a team of vendors to do the field work.