I have received several contracts over the past few days. As it currently stands, I have 288 contracts for 5.04GB. I am showed the amount to be earned, however, nothing has actually been earned, as its still at 0. How long does it take to actually start receiving the coins? Again i've had contracts for several days now, I figured some would have started trickling in by now.
You only receive the coins when the file contracts expire. Renters pay when they upload, but hosts only get paid if they store the file for the agreed amount of time.
The default period is 6,000 blocks I think, which is about 6 weeks. So, you should start seeing coins transferring to your wallet about 6 weeks after you first started hosting files.
Renters that upload through the API are free to set their own contract period (I have mine default to 2,000 blocks, which is about 2 weeks).
The important thing as a host is to remember to keep your host turned on. If renters cannot verify you still have the files at the end of the contract period (because your machine is turned off), you will not receive the coins! In that case, the coins are refunded to the renter. Oh, and keep your wallet unlocked too!
Do renters have the ability to end the contract before its up ? And if so how does that change payment ?