For each second-level domain (SLD) sale or renewal, your payout is calculated via the following formula: NUMBER_OF_YEARS * (REGISTRATION_PRICE - $1). Or put simply, one dollar for each year of SLD registration. Renewals work the same way, $1 per year of renewal. Once the dollar amount of the payout has been calculated, the equivalent amount in HNS will be automatically deposited into your Namebase account, after a 5 day waiting period. (Registrations have a 5 day "Add Period" where registrars can cancel the registration if there are any issues on their side.)
The $1 taken out of the payout covers:
Registry operating costs
Customer and technical support
Ongoing software development costs to improve the registry
Ongoing software development costs to integrate with more registrars