I ‘m always surprised when some American magazines, especially the more prestigious ask for a reading fee to read submissions. The same applies to MS considerations .These are particularly steep. 

I ‘m not sure why they do it , possibly to deter casual submissions. It certainly forces the writer to really check out the magazine and see if their work matches the kind of work they publish.

Even so in this economic climate it must deter submissions from the cash strapped which hardly see...