Frequently Asked Questions

• Is the $99 a one-time, flat fee?
• What's included with the purchase?
• What are the system requirements?
• What knowledge do I need to run Boutique?
• What features does Boutique currently have?
• What features are missing but are planned?
• What features are missing and are not planned?
• What's the refund policy?
• What if I have another question?

Is the $99 a one-time, flat fee?

Yes! Boutique is self-hosted software, the license is similar to traditional desktop software. Updates (e.g. version 1.0 to 1.1) will be provided for free. Updates include bug fixes and minor feature additions. Upgrades (e.g. version 1.x to 2.x) will be provided for an additional fee. Upgrades include major new features.

What's included with the purchase?

Boutique is packaged into a single binary, available for download after purchase. You can use the binary to install the Boutique service (server and queue), which will run on your Linux server. The installed software will include: the admin panel, the embedded code to run on other websites, and the background processes which sends emails and handles payments.

What are the system requirements?

Boutique requires a Linux system (it's compiled for x86_64 or amd64) and the PostgreSQL database. You'll also need a web server to proxy requests, such as Nginx or Apache, with SSL. The software itself is written with Crystal, but your server does not need to have Crystal installed.

There is no Boutique-hosted purchase/subscribe page. All product purchases and newsletter subscriptions are done from an embedded modal — which must be activated from your own website.

What knowledge do I need to run Boutique?

You should be comfortable operating in a Linux environment, via the command line. You should also know how to setup a PostgreSQL database and a web server (e.g. Nginx or Apache).

What features does Boutique currently have?

• Digital Products — connect your Stripe account and upload files to Boutique. When a customer purchases your item, they'll receive instant access via a download link. You can have multiple products on your single Boutique installation.
• Multiple Options for Products — a single product can have multiple options. Each option can have a different price point and include different downloads. This is perfect for pricing tiers (e.g. Base for $19, Plus for $29, Premium for $49).
• Upload a File, Redirect to a URL, or Generate via Script — products can be an uploaded file (e.g. a PDF or Zip file). It can also be a link to a URL. Or you can tell Boutique to run a script on your server to generate a file.
• Download Expiration and Recovery — after purchase, customers can download their files for up to 48 hours. After 48 hours, their unique link will expire (to prevent sharing). Customers can enter their email address in a recovery form to get a new download link.
• Embedded Sales Modal — the entire purchase flow can be embedded directly onto your product's website. Your customer will never leave your website. The modal's text, fonts, and colors can be customized to match your brand.
• Email Newsletters — connect your Amazon SES account to send email newsletters to your audience. You can have multiple newsletters on your single Boutique installation.
• Broadcasts — single emails sent to your entire audience, perfect for announcements or scheduled news.
• Drips — pre-written sequences that are slowly "dripped" out to your audience over time. Whether a subscriber signs up a day after your drip is written, or a year after, everyone will get every email in your sequence.
• Embedded Newsletter Subscription Modal — the subscribe/unsubscribe flow is embedded directly onto your website. Whether they're signing up, confirming, or unsubscribing — everything happens on your site.
• Email Stats — click/open stats are optional and can be turned on (per a newsletter basis). You'll also get unsubscribe, soft/hard bounce, and spam counts.
• Handle Hard Bounces Automatically — hard bounces are automatically unsubscribed to keep your list clean.

What features are missing but planned?

These features are deemed very important and are planned for v1.x of Boutique.

• Batch Imports of Customers/Subscribers — batch subscribe large amounts of email addresses to a newsletter. Or give access to your product to a large number of customers at once.
• Customer/Subscriber Search — find a single customer/subscribe through the admin panel.
• PayPal Payment Option — give the option of using PayPal to your customers. Currently, Boutique only accepts credit card payments via Stripe.
• Email List Segmentation and Tagging — currently broadcasts/drips go out to all subscribers of your newsletter. Tagging would let you tag customers/subscribers to differentiate between them. List segmentation would let you conditionally send emails. For example: tag emails that have not purchased a product yet, and conditionally send only to potential customers.
• Custom Email Templates — Boutique uses a simple/plain template, which should convert well. But it currently has no support to include your own email template.
• Responsive Design — the admin panel currently doesn't work on mobile screens.
• Docker Container — currently installation is handled by the boutique --install subcommand, which installs the service systemd scripts and configures env variables. Containerization is planned to make installation easier for Docker users.

What features are missing and are not planned?

I currently have no plans to include these features in Boutique. If you're interested in them, please contact me. If there's overwhelming interest, I'll add them to Boutique.

• Paid Newsletters — having either a one-time or monthly payment option for users to subscribe to newsletters.
• Boutique Hosted Subscribe/Purchase Page — currently all purchase/subscription flows exist on an embedded modal. Boutique assumes you already have a website that exists for your product/newsletter.
• WSYWIG Editor — email content is currently written using Markdown (with HTML passed through).
• Free or Pay What You Want — let customers pick how much they want to pay for a product.
• API, CLI Admin, or Git Integration — skip the admin interface completely and manage your content entirely from the command line. This feature would expose an API, so you could programmatically manage your product/email content. It could also include a CLI tool or expose content via a Git repository. (* this feature is currently being considered)

What's the refund policy?

If you're unhappy with your purchase for any reason, please contact me within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

What if I have another question?

Please contact me if you have any questions about Boutique.