Courier contracts are created to formalize the moving of items between locations by other players. The items selected during contract creation will be packaged into a "Plastic Wrap" package, which will be given to the contractor to be delivered to the target location. To prevent the contractor from simply keeping the package for his own, a collateral should always be set on a courier contract, which has to be paid by the contractor upon accepting the contract and will be returned to the contractor upon successful delivery. It the contract fails for any reason, the creator of the courier contract will receive the collateral instead.
A courier contract will change in case its location or destination gets destroyed or unanchored:
- if the starting location is destroyed or unanchored, a not accepted contract will be cancelled and its items moved to Asset Safety.
- if the destination location is destroyed or unanchored
- a not accepted contract will be cancelled and its items returned to the owner.
- an accepted contract's destination will change to the Issuer's default Asset Safety location, except if the destination was a structure in a wormhole system, then the contract will fail automatically.
- the Plastic Wrap is treated as any other item in regards to the Asset Safety mechanism.
A courier contract can fail as a result of the following conditions:
- The package has been broken open by the courier, which will automatically fail the contract.
- The delivery time frame set on the contract has passed without the package being delivered. The contract will remain in the "In Progress" state until the creator explicitly fails it. Until then, the package can still be delivered.
- The package has been lost and can no longer be delivered.
- The delivery location was a structure in a wormhole system and it was destroyed or unanchored.
A courier contract may not be deliverable if an Upwell Structure's Delivery Hanger is offline. This can happen for the following reasons:
- The Citadel does not have a Quantum Core installed.
- The Citadel is in a "Low Power" state.
- The Citadel is in an "Abandoned" state.
Deleting a courier contract is only possible while the contract is still "Outstanding" and has not yet been accepted by another player, in which case the package is returned to the contract creator. It will NOT be returned if the contract is deleted after it failed, as the creator will receive the collateral of the contract.