I live in NC, and I order records a lot from their online instate order site, the NC Archives send me letter telling me if they have record are not and how much it will be, must times it is only $2 for records, that includes coping also. I have never had to send money up front. I have had to send money up front to the Archives in Washington to search for Military records. The address for instate ordering is: _http://ncrec.dcr.state.nc.us/ArchivesMailer/ArchivesMailer.asp_ (http://ncrec.dcr.state.nc.us/ArchivesMailer/ArchivesMailer.asp)