Repeated as it seems to be relevant to this thread as well...
I got this 'send us 50 quid or sod off' message from the Ryanair postmaster as well, and almost fell over in disbelief. How would they expect applicants who are applying to even a small a number of different organisations to feel happy about paying for EACH???? I don't very often post on PPrune, but I did want to check the chat carefully to ensure that this wasn't a hoax. I think it's quite outrageous (as far as I know this practice would be totally illegal if they were based in the UK).
So, instead I went to yahoo.com and just typed in 'flight crew jobs'...
I'm still aghast at the arrogance of Ryanair, and it would be natural justice if nobody paid up, but as has been said, it may be a sign of the times.