The US consulate usually doesn't notarize documents for free. (It's not their fault - the government has cut the State Department budget to the extent that the consulates have to recover their costs for "citizen services" they offer abroad.)

Here in France, it costs $30 for the first authentication, and $20 for each additional one. Not cheap - but it has come down from $45 per page a few years ago.
Cheers,
Bev