Most of the provisions don't sound too onerous, but notarization would likely cost a significant fraction of my investment. It seems a bit like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. I could see it as a possibly valuable CYA for investors with hundreds or thousands of shares, but for single-digit quantities? Unless something changes, it might almost be better to just eat the loss than go through the hassle.
What is the typical cost of notarization outside the USA? The worst I've seen for "non-friend, non-negotiated" rates has been USD20, but if you ask around, chances are that you know a notary.
In most cities, you should be able to notarize a document for USD10 or so.
You're missing that he doesn't just require notorization - he also requires an apostille. The apostille is basically confirmation by a central authority that whoever notarised the document is entitled to do so - without it, someone in a different country would have no way to establish whether the apparent notarization was actually legitimate. To be fair, if he requires notarised documents from non-US residents then they'd HAVE to be apostilled to be of any value.
I'm in the UK. Cost of notorization can vary - last time I had one done it cost £25 (~$35-$40) but if you don't have regular dealing with a notary it can cost more. I've never shopped around - as whenever I have a document notarised it's for business, so the cost isn't coming out of my pocket.
The ONLY place which can issue an apostille in the UK is the Legalisation Office of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. That costs a fixed fee of £30 (~$45) (or did last time I had to get one) - or significantly more if you want the notary to do it on your behalf (no need for that as you can obtain it through the post).
Then add on the cost of travel, recorded delivery (of document to FCO), return postage etc to that and you'll be lucky to see change out of £60-£70 (~$150). And that's without charging for your own time at all.
No idea at all how easy obtaining an apostille is elsewhere - but the costs of getting a notarised, aspostilled document in the UK are WAY above your estimate of $10 - the FCO fee is non-negotiable even if you had a (notary) friend do the notarisation for free.