Tenants responsible for application fees - a little too much?

[Sam Faas]

I am just starting out on my RE journey and currently marketing the property on Zillow.  Zillow Applications use their $30 for an umlimited applications to apply on Zillow.  I think of this as a more of a screening tool, but putting in a tenant's shoes, it seems like a really cost effective tool to apply for rentals.

Going on to the next phase, it looks like most places charge $30 to $50 per application for the tenant for each rental on average.  Even applying to just 5 properties would be $250, and am just wondering how this is affordable for tenants , unless I am completely misunderstanding the process.  Just applying to rentals seems like an expensive porposition from a tenant perspective.

Just wondering aloud, do most tenants only apply to 5 or fewer places before they secure housing?  On average how many tenants pay these application fees for each rental that you manage?