The Boutique Live Sale Run-Sheet: A Minute-by-Minute Show Template

A written run-sheet is what separates a calm boutique live sale from an improvised one. Here is a minute-by-minute template for a 60-minute show, how to scale it to 30 or 90 minutes, and the post-show block most sellers skip.

A boutique live sale runs best off a written run-sheet: a timed list of what happens in each block of the show, who says it, and which item comes next — so you are never deciding what to do next while two hundred people watch you think. Boutique owners in Nashville, Charleston, Scottsdale, and Columbus are running 45- to 90-minute shows from stockrooms and spare bedrooms, and the ones who finish calm are working from a template rather than improvising. This guide gives you a minute-by-minute run-sheet you can copy, the prep that has to happen before the camera turns on, how to adapt the timing to your show length, and the post-show block that most sellers skip.

What a run-sheet is, and why improvising costs you

A run-sheet is a single page that maps your show to the clock. Each row is a time block with three things: what is on camera, what you are saying or doing, and which item numbers are in play. Broadcast producers have used them for decades for the same reason boutique sellers need them — live time moves faster than your memory does.

Without one, three predictable things happen. You present your strongest items too early, before latecomers arrive. You lose dead air every time you reach for the next piece because nothing was staged. And you forget the operational lines — the claim rule, the shipping note, the payment window — because nothing is prompting you. None of those are talent problems; they are planning problems, which means a page of paper solves them.

A written sheet also makes a weak show diagnosable. "The 20-minute mark dragged" is a fixable note. "It felt off" is not.

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What you need staged before you go live

The sheet only works if the room is ready for it. Staging is the difference between a 40-second gap between items and a four-second one, and across a 60-item show those gaps add up to a quarter of your runtime.

Prep item	Why it matters	Time to do it
Numbered tags on every piece	A claim without a number is a dispute, not an order	20–30 min for 50 items
Items in presentation order, left to right	Removes the hunt between items	15 min
Sizes and prices written on the tag	Stops you guessing on camera	Included above
Run-sheet printed and propped by the camera	You will not remember to check a phone	5 min
Both platform streams tested	A dead feed found at minute 3 costs the whole hour	10 min
Packing station set up behind you	Lets you pack during slow blocks	10 min

Two of those deserve emphasis. Presentation order is where boutique sellers gain the most: group by category so your narration flows (all dresses, then all denim), and place your best three pieces at the back of the lineup so they land when your audience is largest. And test both streams before every show, not just the first one — Streamster™ simulcasts to Instagram and Facebook at the same time, and you still want to confirm both are live with your own eyes before you start talking. If you have not set that up yet, how to simulcast to Instagram and Facebook covers the connection steps.

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The 60-minute boutique run-sheet

This is the template. Times are elapsed minutes from the moment you go live, and it assumes roughly 35–45 items. Copy it, then adjust using the scaling section below.

Time	Block	What happens
−10:00	Pre-roll	Streams started, lighting checked, water in reach, lineup staged
0:00–3:00	Open	Greet by name, say what tonight's lineup is, no selling yet
3:00–5:00	House rules	Claim word + lot number, payment window, shipping note, pinned comment posted
5:00–15:00	Warm-up items	6–8 mid-price pieces, fast pace, builds the claiming habit
15:00–18:00	Re-greet + recap	Welcome latecomers, restate rules, tease what is still coming
18:00–35:00	Main block	Your deepest inventory, 15–20 items, steady rhythm
35:00–38:00	Breather	Answer sizing questions, pack two orders on camera, re-pin rules
38:00–52:00	Headliners	Your best 5–8 pieces, slower pace, more detail per item
52:00–57:00	Last call	Unclaimed items re-offered, bundle anything left
57:00–60:00	Close	Next show date, how checkout works, thank the room by name

Three design choices in that sheet are worth understanding, because they are what you keep when you change the timing.

The rules go at minute three, not minute zero. Your first ninety seconds have the fewest viewers and the most distraction, so the open is warmth, not logistics. Then you state rules once the room is filling, and you pin them so everyone who arrives later can read them without you repeating yourself.

The headliners go at 38 minutes, roughly two-thirds in. Audiences on Instagram and Facebook Live keep building well past the start, so putting your best piece at minute five shows it to a fraction of your eventual room. The 35-minute breather exists to absorb the show's two unavoidable interruptions — sizing questions and order packing — in one planned block instead of fifteen unplanned ones. For the pace and energy inside each block, 15 things to say when your live stream gets quiet is a useful companion.

Run your next show off a real order feed →

How to scale the sheet to your show length

The blocks stay in the same order at every length; only the minutes change. Three versions cover almost every boutique show.

Block	30-minute show	60-minute show	90-minute show
Open	2 min	3 min	4 min
House rules	2 min	2 min	3 min
Warm-up items	6 min	10 min	15 min
Re-greet + recap	2 min	3 min	4 min
Main block	9 min	17 min	32 min
Breather	2 min	3 min	5 min
Headliners	5 min	14 min	20 min
Last call	1 min	5 min	5 min
Close	1 min	3 min	2 min

At 90 minutes, add a second breather around the 60-minute mark — your voice and your audience both need it, and it is the natural place to pack the orders that came in during the main block. At 30 minutes, cut the item count hard rather than speeding up: twelve pieces presented properly beats twenty-five rushed, because a claim only happens when a viewer has understood what the item is.

One rule holds at every length. Never let the headliner block be the last thing before you sign off. You want a last-call block after it so anyone who hesitated has a second chance, and that block costs you nothing in inventory.

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Writing your own version

Start with your show length and item count, then divide: a comfortable boutique pace is roughly 60 to 90 seconds per item including the claim, so 45 items needs about an hour of item time plus fifteen minutes of non-item blocks. If the math says you have too many items for your window, cut items rather than compressing the pace — rushed shows produce missed claims, and missed claims produce refunds.

Then write the five sentences you must say every show, verbatim, on the sheet where you will say them: the claim rule, the payment window, the shipping note, the next-show date, and the thank-you. These are the lines that vanish under pressure and carry the most operational consequence. Boutique sellers in Portland and Minneapolis who tape them to the camera say them every time; working from memory, they get said about half as often.

Finally, leave a blank column on the right for live notes — items that got reactions but no claims, sizes people asked for, names of people who missed out. That column is next week's lineup. Streamster's live sales feed shows claims and orders from both Instagram and Facebook in one view, so whoever is watching the sheet reads one screen instead of switching between two.

Keep your whole show on one screen →

The post-show block nobody writes down

Your run-sheet should not end at minute 60. The thirty minutes after you sign off decide whether tonight's claims become paid, shipped orders, and it is the single most skipped block in boutique live selling.

Three things happen in that window. You confirm every winning claim in writing so each buyer knows what they got. You make sure every claim has a checkout link in hand, because the gap between the claim and the link is where orders die. And you write down what is unsold so tomorrow's lineup is already half-built.

Minutes after close	Task	Why now
0–10	Confirm claims, send checkout links	Buyer attention drops fast after the stream ends
10–20	Set aside sold items, flag anything unpaid	Prevents double-selling on the next show
20–30	Note unsold items and requests for next week	Tomorrow's prep is tonight's cheapest work

Then pack and ship inside the window you promised on camera — the mechanics are in how to ship products after a live sale. Worth knowing before you plan around the cash: on Streamster, sellers are paid after carrier-confirmed delivery plus a 14-day buyer window, so schedule restocks against that timing rather than assuming money arrives the night of the show.

Close the loop on every claim →

Ready to run your next show off a sheet?

Here is what you get with a Streamster account:

Simulcast to Instagram and Facebook at the same time, with both audiences in one view
Tiered commission from 4% down to 1% by plan — and no buyer fees
Product listing and order management, so a claim becomes a real order with an address
Buyers see free shipping, with 1-click shipping labels for sellers
Real-time analytics on your conversion rate, show by show
14-day free trial on every plan — a card is required to go live but isn't charged during the trial, and the trial doesn't auto-convert

Plans are Starter at $79/mo (4% commission, 10 live hours), Creator+ at $199/mo (2%, 40 hours), and Pro at $499/mo (1%, 100 hours), with extra live hours at $8 per hour.

Ready to stop improvising your shows? Create your free Streamster account →

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FAQ

How long should a boutique live sale be?

Between 45 and 90 minutes for most boutiques, with 60 minutes being the easiest to staff and the easiest to repeat weekly. Shorter than 30 minutes and your audience never finishes building; much longer than 90 and both your energy and your comment moderation start to slip.

Pick the length first, then size your lineup to fit it at a pace of roughly 60 to 90 seconds per item. If the numbers do not work, cut items rather than talking faster. Streamster plans include live hours by tier — 10 on Starter, 40 on Creator+, 100 on Pro — so it is worth deciding your weekly show length before choosing a plan.

When in the show should I present my best items?

About two-thirds of the way through, not at the start. Live audiences on Instagram and Facebook keep arriving for most of the broadcast, so your headline piece reaches the most people somewhere past the halfway mark rather than in the opening minutes.

Use the first ten minutes for mid-price warm-up items instead. They get people claiming, which teaches newcomers the mechanic before anything expensive is on screen. Streamster's live feed shows claims from both platforms as they arrive, so you can see in real time whether the warm-up block is doing its job.

Do I need a second person to run a live sale?

Not required, but a moderator changes what the sheet can carry. Working alone, build pauses into every item — call it, stop talking, read the comments for a few seconds, announce the winner — and accept a slower pace as the cost of accuracy.

With a second person, their job should be written on the sheet and narrow: watch both comment feeds, record claims in order, confirm winners, and tell near-misses immediately. Streamster brings Instagram and Facebook comments and orders into one view, which means that person reads a single screen instead of juggling two phones.

What should I say in the first three minutes?

Greet people by name as they arrive, say what tonight's lineup is, and give a reason to stay — "the three best pieces are at the end" works. Do not open with logistics; your first ninety seconds have your smallest audience and your highest drop-off.

Save the claim rule, payment window, and shipping note for minute three, once the room is filling, then pin them as a comment on both platforms so later arrivals can read them without you repeating yourself. Streamster keeps your product list and order records in one place, so you can state your rules once and point to the record later if a claim is disputed.

What goes in the run-sheet after the show ends?

A 30-minute post-show block: confirm every winning claim in writing, make sure each claim has a checkout link, set sold items aside, and note what went unsold plus any sizes people asked for. The first ten minutes matter most, because buyer attention falls away quickly once the stream stops.

Write the unsold list the same night while it is fresh — it is the cheapest prep you will ever do and it builds most of next week's lineup for free. On Streamster, claims, payment status, and buyer details sit on one order record, so you can see which claims are still open before your next show rather than reconstructing them from a replay.