A Future contract is an entirely different animal. With a future contract there is no payment upfront either way, it is an outright buy per a date in the future, at a price agreed upon at the outset. Both parties are obliged to fulfill the contract at the end of the agreed upon period.
Hmmm, I'm not a finance guy, so I don't know; but this doesn't sound right.
I thought that futures worked so that you bought something now that the seller doesn't have yet.
The classic example is the farmer. The farmer can sell (say) wheat at $100 a kilo in September; but to do so he needs to spend money now to buy seeds, labour and tools. If he doesn't have that money, he will get $0. A futures buyer offers $90 per kilo right now; giving the farmer the capital he needs to produce the wheat.
i.e. the money changes hands now; the product changes hands in the future.
Have I misunderstood?
The example of the farmer relates more to the uncertainty of the weather and conditions. He does not get paid now, but is guaranteed to get a set revenue in the future. He is setting the future price now, and that price varies as we get closer to the maturity date. The counter risk is that if there is storm that ruins all the crops, the farmer does not go broke but the other one loses out.