Poker Expert! apologizes! Poker Expert! did not answer all of your questions!
How often do you pay the blinds when there are, say, eight people playing
Every eight hands, you'll have to pay the big blind and the small blind once.
and how much does it cost you?
The big blind is generally 1 small bet.
The small blind is generally 1/2 or some similar fraction of a small bet.
(Most games in a casino have structured betting limits, so that during the first two betting rounds, you can only bet a certain amount ("small bet"), and during the last two, you bet the larger amount ("big bet"). So, at a "$3/$6" table, the small bet is $3 and the big bet is $6.)
if "Ben" were choosing a table, what kind of min/max blind amount would he sit down to?
Ben generally sits at the aforementioned $3/$6 games (or something close to that). In the $3/$6 game, the big blind is $3, and the small blind is $1.
Remember, though, you're not "giving the money away". It functions as a live bet, so you can always win it back if you win the hand.
But without the blinds (or some form of ante), there is no point to the game of poker. Everyone would just sit there all day waiting for the best hand, and if anyone ever bet, everyone else would immediately fold.