Blogshops selling ladies underwear ... to MEN!

From the Star Online website: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/25/nation/6129311&sec=nation

More men going online to buy sexy lingerie

By YEE XIANG YUN
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

JOHOR BARU: You can get almost anything through the Internet and the latest craze among Malaysians is buying undergarments, or lingerie, online.

Many buyers are men, who prefer to purchase such stuff online to avoid the embarrassment when buying such clothing for their wives or girlfriends in public.

Some of the purchasers are even from Felda settlements, which have no access to shops selling such items.
Kate Yong, who owns an online lingerie shop called Sensual-Touche Blogshop, said more people were turning to online blogs to shop for lingerie, especially the exotic ones.

“I think most of them feel embarrassed to purchase these items from normal shops.

“Online shopping saves them the stares and curious looks,” she said, adding that her customers were mainly from Kuala Lumpur.

Another lingerie seller on eBay Malaysia said most of her buyers were males.

Meanwhile, Anna from the Straw-berry Swing Lingerie online shop, said it was harder to find affordable yet attractive lingerie in retail shops.

“Lingerie corsets are my online shop’s hottest-selling items and I do get customers demanding for more corset designs, such as those with lace and leather,” she said, adding that corsets were usually expensive in retail shops.

Another reason people buy from online shops is because there are many designs to choose from, such as satin slips, corsets, two-piece sets and even those that come with whips, she said.

Meanwhile, researcher Logan Hisham, 27, said most of the designs found online were much more exotic and kinkier than those available at retail shops.

“With online shopping, we do not have any physical contact with the sellers so there is no room for judgment or embarrassment,” he added.

Here is a screen-shot of an ad by a Singaporean teenager who wishes to model for blogshops.

Nuffnang's First Bloggers' Symposium in Singapore

This is a major event for bloggers in Singapore that involved blogshops: 

From the Nuffnang blog:
http://www.nuffnang.com.sg/blog/2010/04/11/nuffnangs-first-bloggers-symposium-event-coverage-photos/ 

From the Fashionate Traveler (Australia) blog:
http://thefashionatetraveller.blogspot.com/2010/04/singapore-nuffnang-first-ever-bloggers.html

Owning a blogshop: a blogger's perspective

This post is from Sin Yee Ole blog at: http://sinyeeole.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/sick-o/

Here is the post:


Haiya I am like sick and I HATE IT. My lips turn dry very fast and that is so called a signal for me to drink water. I think I drank 3litres of water tonight already. ): Water retention Don’t come to Me tomorrow please cuz I am wearing something short haha.

So anyway, I wanted to just voice out something I have kept to myself for quite awhile. It’s about owning a blogshop.


Maybelle and I started on a random idea to open a blog shop together. I have always wanted to hold sprees when I am schooling in RP. Main objective is to kill time. Earning $$ wasn’t in my mind at all. Initially when M approached me to open a blog shop together, I wasn’t quite keen to do it because I had no confidence in making it work. However, we had the capital and time, and we love shopping so much, so why not give it a try?

The name of Neonmello grew through the word of mouth. We can have a total of 700+ mailing listees today all thanks to our friends, flea, and our hard work. I didn’t expect us to go past 20 collections and now, we’re on our 22nd. Of course every now and then there’re some hippcups. Things like

1) Annoying customers who asked a hell lot of question about a piece and decided not to buy it at the end.
2) Customers not understanding our terms and conditions well
3) Clash of taste in the type of clothes to bring in every collection
4) Which model to use, etc
5) Who’s to go collect re-stocks at our supplier’s.

6) Compromise of our school timetable for each collection. Because my school is morning till 330, i always had to partial because photoshoot timings are quite early, it’s always before 5pm. Maybelle has to skip her lessons as well.

I guess people always think that setting up a blog shop is easy because you always have blogshops like tracyeinny, bonitochico, ohsofickle in your mind.. You aspire to earn more than 1k from each collection blah blah blah. I used to have that thinking as well but not everyday is sunday uh.. hahahhaa. Now I know very well behind blogshops of my standard what’re they doing in terms of money income blah blah.

I don’t know what I just said but my point is, establishing, securing, maintaining neonmello is easy but,
making it a big name is more or less something we have yet to do now.

I guess the next step is to hold more fleas to clear our stocks in hand……. Work hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wha LAME POST. okay bye.

A blogshop scam report

Scam on blogshop: A report from Safe Blogshopper.com site:

http://www.safeblogshopper.com/2010/04/10/blogshops-scams-and-complaint/scam-reported-tigandtweak-blogspot-com-part-2.html 

Scam Reported: t-havelens.blogspot.com

Scam Reported: t-havelens.blogspot.com

Aug 1, 2011

By admin

Scam Blogshops

23 Comments

Last week, we received a report from Kym. After transferring $53.50 on the 23rd July for few pairs of contact lens on t-havelens.blogspot.com, she received both payment and order confirmation. Much to her astonishment, the blog closed after 3 days and there was no updates on her lens and no more emails were replied.

As soon as we received Kym’s report, we sent a fore-warn email, hopefully they will resolve this as soon as possible. We also did our research and confirmed that the blog was remove. Here’s the screenshot before the blog was closed down and after it was closed down.




We also found out that t-havelens.blogspot has another affiliate blogshop t-havenospace.blogspot, which is now lock and not visible to non-registered users.



According to Kym, the owner of t-havelens.blogspot advertised in many websites such as Cozycot forum, Cleocat forum and they are rather active in twitter and facebook. There was no sign that they would gone missing.

Kym participated in Geo Spree #5, which was closed on 25th July.

Till date, neither Kym nor SafeBlogShopper has received any of their clarifications nor responses pertaining to Kym’s claim.

Comments:

1. 

   Natalie said:
   August 1, 2011 at 11:07 pm

   I have bought from t-havelens@bs before and i thought her service wasn’t too bad so i introduced it to my cousin and she experienced the same thing as Kym, what’s worse she paid even more, a cost of $63 in total. Didn’t expect her to be so irresponsible tsk.
   

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   Feedback: 2 positive
2. 

   admin said:
   August 1, 2011 at 11:18 pm

   Hi Natelie,
   Thanks for sharing your experience. We have send you an email for more information about your cousin’s situation.
   Do let us know if we can help in anything.
   We hope t-havelens can stand out and make its clarifications soon if they are really legitimate.
   

   Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

   
   

   Feedback: 1 positive
3. 

   molly said:
   August 2, 2011 at 9:37 am

   Participated in their Spree #4 and had paid for the orders. I lost contact with them after 24 July whereby i realised their blog was deleted. Is there a need to make a police report?
   

   Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

   
   

   Feedback: 1 positive
4. 

   admin said:
   August 2, 2011 at 11:50 am

   Hi Molly,
   Thanks for sharing your experience. We have send you an email for more information about your situation.
   Do let us know if we can help in anything!
   

   Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

   
   

   Feedback: 1 positive
5. 

   vivi said:
   August 2, 2011 at 3:22 pm

   I bought my lens from t-havelens.bs too!! N i realised they closed their blogshop and also inactivate their twitter account! I ordered 2 lens from the latest spree #5, and had paid for the items! I remembered them posting that they had send the order to suppliers! However. there is no updates and i emailed but they didnt reply as well!
   

   Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

   
   

   Feedback: 1 positive
6. 

   admin said:
   August 2, 2011 at 5:18 pm

   Hi Vivi,
   Thanks for sharing your experience. We have send you an email for more information about your situation.
   Do let us know if we can help in anything!
   

   Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

   
   

   Feedback: 1 positive
7. 

   fairlyfair said:
   August 3, 2011 at 1:55 pm

   I bought from t-havelens too, and i paid a total of $77.50 for 5 lenses, shared with another friend.
   She confirmed my payment and told me she have already sent them to the supplier. Next thing i know she closed her blogshop, i emailed her but there wasnt any reply. Her name was stated as TingTing in the email. And i googled “t-havelens ting ting”, and saw this http://www.facebook.com/Singapore.BlogShopCity/posts/124905764256199
   Anyone can confirm if she is the one?
   

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   Feedback: 2 positive
8. 

   admin said:
   August 3, 2011 at 7:33 pm

   Hi there
   Thanks for sharing your experience.
   There was no reply from her after we sent her email too.
   It could be her on the facebook, but we are not sure.
   We have sent you an email to best coordinate with you and the rest of those who reported.
   Do let us know if we can help in anything!
   

   Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

   
   

   Feedback: 2 positive
9. 

   triunday said:
   August 4, 2011 at 3:41 pm

   I just realize today that t-havelens website is a scam and was utterly disappointed! =(
   I introduced to my sis & we bought a total of 5 pairs costing $60. I made payment on 7 July and haven’t received the orders up till today and only then…. i realize her website was already down!! The seller of t-havelens goes by the name TingTing. How irresponsible! Haiz..
   

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10. 

    admin said:
    August 4, 2011 at 10:35 pm

    Hi there
    Thanks for sharing your experience.
    Vivi sent msg to her via Facebook and we received reply from the owner.
    Pls keep a lookout on our facebook for more updates. We will also be sending any updates we have to those who have commented here.
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    
11. 

    angel_suko85 said:
    August 4, 2011 at 11:14 pm

    I’ve ordered three pairs of lenses from t-havelens on July 11 and made a payment of $35.50 (inclusive of reg postage) to her the next day, July 12. She has claimed that the lenses will reached me in about 1 week time or more. Before my holiday, I sent an email to her and asked her if I was under the spree#4. Her reply was yes. I checked her blog and the update was stateD that payment was made to supplier. After I came back from my holiday, which was on the July 28, to realized that her blogshop was closed and twitter acct was deactivated. There wasn’t a reply from her even after I emailed her for an answer. Pls help!
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    

    Feedback: 1 negative
12. 

    admin said:
    August 5, 2011 at 12:08 am

    Hi there,
    Thanks for sharing your experience.
    We have sent an email to you with regards to your situation.
    Please do note that we are compiling the report as well as the total amount of money scammed.
    PS: If you are one of their participants in the Geo Lens spree, please come forward and let us know.
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    
13. 

    vanessakhoo said:
    August 5, 2011 at 10:35 pm

    just realise she closed down 2 days ago only. She said she confirmed my payment. But when I sent her another email but there wasn’t any reply at all!
    

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    Feedback: 1 positive
14. 

    fridae39 said:
    August 5, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    hey! me n my friend have bought the lens from the website too. and i have emailed the lady but i got no response. what are we suppose to do now? is there a need for police report?
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    

    Feedback: 1 positive
15. 

    admin said:
    August 6, 2011 at 2:27 am

    Hi there,
    Thanks for sharing your experience.
    We have sent an email to you with regards to updates of your situation.
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    
16. 

    admin said:
    August 6, 2011 at 2:34 am

    Hi there,
    Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
    We have sent you an email with regards to your situation.
    We are busy compiling the details and please do allow us some time if we got held up. We will definitely send an email / reply your comments. Thanks guys!
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    
17. 

    bubulala said:
    August 8, 2011 at 10:10 am

    Hi all!!
    I’m one of the buyers who participated in the lens spree from this site too.
    My friend and I spent a total of around $150 for the lenses.
    We took part in both the GEO and EOS lens spree.
    Please help.
    Thank You
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    

    Feedback: 1 positive
18. 

    admin said:
    August 9, 2011 at 1:32 pm

    Hi there,
    Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
    We have sent you an email with regards to your situation.
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    
19. 

    mintmean said:
    August 10, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    Hi all, T-havelens.blogspot.com is not a scam. I think this is a misunderstanding. I was the first few to place an order and everything went smoothly. And of course, i was satisfied with the service and the product that i have received. Therefore, i recommended my friends to place orders too. But unfortunately, the owner was caught and charged by HSA of 2 counts and all the lens were confiscated. However, She was told by HSA if she doesn’t close down her blog immediately that will add on an additional charge which makes it a total of 3 charges on her name. This was why she couldn’t stand out and make clarifications. She is not the only unlucky one, there are other sellers who are facing the same problem too. I’ve contacted the owner, she is willing to make a 50% refund at her own cost and has to verify her records from her emails and this will take time. My friends and i were shocked by the news but sympathized the situation that she is in. So right now we can only wait patiently for further replies and refunds.
    

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    Feedback: 1 positive, 3 negative
20. 

    admin said:
    August 10, 2011 at 6:30 pm

    Thank you for the clarifications.
    Dear all, we also receive response from the owners of T-havelens. We will be doing a mass email to update everyone, and we will be dropping the scam status to complaint status.
    Let us know if you have any questions.
    

    Did you find this review helpful? Yes   No

    
    
21. 

    chwc54 said:
    August 10, 2011 at 9:37 pm

    hello i also have a complaint against this blogshop! they should have at least emailed to clarify shouldn’t they? anyway i hope to be kept in the loop if they are offering refunds so could you please add me in to the mailing list for this case? thanks!!
    

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    Feedback: 1 positive
22. 

    louisa. said:
    August 15, 2011 at 1:25 am

    Hi all , I joined t-havelens’s latest GEO spree (ordered 1 pair) and after she closed down her site , I emailed her . This was her reply :
    “Contact lens have been seized by HSA.
    I can’t take it back and it is impossible to do a refund due to that I only earn $1 per pair and payment already made to supplier.
    I might be fine up to 50k for importing without a license or imprisonment of up to 6 months.
    Very sorry about what happened. Other blogshops lens also has been seized. Whatever contact lens that has come into Singapore will be seized. My statement already taken, but I did not include names on who I sell to. For your own safety, please stop selling lens guys!
    With Love,
    T. XOXO”
    She didn’t offer a 50% refund as mintmean above mentioned . I’ve previously replied saying I understood and I would let it pass (moreover I merely bought a pair costing 12/13 sgd) . Should I seek a partial refund ?
    Thanks , please keep me updated !! I really appreciate it !
    Louisa
    

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    Feedback: 1 positive
23. 

    kmikaela said:
    September 17, 2011 at 9:53 pm

    Even though, he/her was caught for spree #4, what about the recent spree #5?
    Since spree #4 had been confiscated, why would he/she still take in order for spree #5?
    The least he/she can do is to contact us and inform us of the latest status for the order.
    I had an experience from previous spree orders that the supplier was caught too and she made the effort to contact me via email and that blog was not shut down. They will also transfer the full amount back to me and seek my understanding that she was caught and the items will not be sent to me.
    If spree #4 had been confiscated, would spree #5 still go through?
    What he/she is doing now indicates that he/she is using money from spree #5 to cover up her loses on spree #4.
    Otherwise, why would he/she is not responding to all those emails sent regarding this matter?
    Using the custom as an excues is not good enough, unless he/she is now in jail and has no means of access to the internet to check the mails and reply them.
    By The Way, This is KYM LI who had already reported to police Report No. F/20110730/2099
    I’ve actually forward the msg T-havelens last SENT to my friend who’s also a police, regarding to the HSA matters.
    ——————————–
    Goh Chengying
    not sure.. but hsa is very serious on contact lenses sale
    especially online… so those blogshops that sell contact lenses like students have to be warned.. but some dont care.. like one of my friend kena fined.. tel her le dun care.. hsa fine her lor
    but is not 50k.. not to worry… when we plead guilty in court the amount can be like 50$ or 100$ only..
    ——————————–
    I did asked her to refund at least 50% .. and she did agreed to rrefund me yet no ACTION!
    ————————–
    From: t-havelens@hotmail.com
    To: k****@live.com
    Subject: RE: Please Refund Full Amount ! – Order GEO SPREE #5 COZY(kymiko) -PAYMENT-
    Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:23:40 +0800
    Hi,
    I will do a 50% refund once everything has been sorted out. Will let you know again alright!
    ————————–
    And now it had already 2 months had pasted.. and 1 month pasted since she promise to refund. NOW I JUST NOTICE SHE OPEN THE BLOGSHOP BACK TO SELL LENS AGAIN!
    Continuing to Scam ppl around AGAIN! yet not evne bother to refund any of us!!
    PEOPLE PLEASE DO SOMETHING ! Report Her to Police will do! no matter how big or small the amount is, a CRIME is a CRIME! its still scam u after all. Let’s not just sit there and do nth!? Report her!
    

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    Feedback: 5 positive, 1 negative

99 Blogshop- eCommerce platform

This is a site that provides a $99 set-up fee for blogshop businesses.

http://www.99blogshop.com/about/


From the site's About page:

We provide fast and cost-effective blogshop setup.
Installation (blogshop setup) fee is S$99.00.

Blogshop setup includes

• Installation of WordPress Blogging System
• Installation of desired WordPress Theme (see themes available)
• Installation of Shopping Cart System (our system shopping cart is exactly what you will be getting)
• Installation of Google XML SiteMaps
• Listed on 99blogshop.com
• User Manual

Your blogshop (with shopping cart functions) can be ready in 3-5 working days.

3 easy steps to start your blogshop

1. Find your theme & domain name (if required)
2. Purchase our installation service
3. Get your products ready and start your blogshop

Blogshops with offline fronts

This post from the I.justrealized.com blog shows blogshops in Singapore with offline storefronts.

http://i.justrealized.com/2010/04/07/best-of-blogshops/

Update 3

I am presently working on writing up my Research Design.

In a way, it is like a Proposal because I am finding that I have to address many of the areas usually found in a proposal.

At any rate it is good because this gives me a chance to get down on paper the things I have read and learned.

I find that my OUTPUT / WRITING is lagging behind my INPUT / THINGS I LEARN.  I find that it is better to write things down before I forget them, as I seem to have done so in many instances.  This is a waste of time because I will have to go back to look for it later on.  So, I am trying to compose the research design so that I can commit to paper what I have accumulated and what I have decided on, based on what I have learned so far.

This will take sometime to do because I find the writing process to be disjointed at best.  What I mean is that it is hard to find a big chunk of time to commit to this task.  Often I am interrupted by having to attend to the necessary like attending classes, meetings, consultations with students, etc.

Thus, the last month has been less productive for me in terms of trying to get my writing going.  Still, I hope to be able to get the Research Design done by the end of April (not sure if this is over or under-ambitious, but I just need a deadline for myself).

After this is done, I hope to be able to attend to a few other things:

• writing a conference paper on blogshops 
• writing a paper on Grounded Theory design for website analysis (I hope the research design that I am working on now will shed some light later on the feasibility of this paper) 

Some other issues I have that I need to attend to eventually are:

• When does the Ethics application come into play?  Do I apply for Ethics clearance before or after doing the Proposal?
• When should I present the proposal?  The Research Higher Degrees Policy and Procedures document says at the end of the first year, so we will need to fix a date soon.
• When should I enter the field and start the sampling and data collection process?  Grounded theory prescribes doing this as soon as possible, so unless there are good reasons, I think I should be able to begin this anytime after completion of the research design.

The owner's guide to an effective blog shop

This article is taken from Youth.sg website:

http://www.youth.sg/content/view/7690/50/

The owner's guide to an effective blog shop

The owner's guide to an effective blog shop Written by Siti Rozianti, on Wednesday, 20 January 2010 Published in : Culture, &*@!(% So you have dreams of starting your own business. What can you do? Well, why not follow the examples of many others and set up your very own blog shop? Blog shops can work because most youths are tech-savvy and Internet banking as well as PayPal make online payment easy and relatively safe. Best of all, there is a ready supply of consumers online. “In a way, it is a good form of retail therapy. I can shop whenever I want to,” says student Geraldine Chua. Besides the ease of reaching out to consumers, the convenience of having an easy start-up is also one reason why blog shops are springing up like dandelions. Alvin Tan, the PR liaison of flea.sg, an online blog shop directory, says the appeal of blog shops for new business owners is the low start-up cost. In fact, blog shop owners can just take a “blogspot” or a “livejournal” address and start their businesses right away. In addition, blog shops work so well because the blogging interface is pretty straightforward and “as an owner, you don't have to go through the whole process of setting up an e-commerce store in the conventional way. You just need to know how to make a blog post.” Owner of Jewelry of Lav, Lavender Low, cited the ability to work from home as another reason to open up a blog shop. As a mother, family is important to her and having a blog shop gives Lavender the chance to combine her passion of jewellery making with a business model that suits her schedule. ONE OF THE NEW ITEMS IN LAVENDER'S COLLECTIONS However, more and more blog shop owners are now making the switch to having both an online presence and an offline retail shop for a bigger piece of the market. Lavender, for example, is just one amongst a group of other blog shop owners who has made the move offline. If blog shop owners are not comfortable with owning an entire retail space, shops like Best of Blog Shops in Far East and other shops at Haji Lane, Suntec and Jurong Point allow blog shops to display their items either on a commission or on a rental basis. These shops help give both the blog shop owners and their customers a different shopping experience. As Jenny Chan of Jenny’s Bitz and Pieces told Youth.SG, “Jewellery is something people feel comfortable feeling and touching and trying before buying. So in a way, it is easier to retail it directly. SOMETHING YOU CAN BUY FOR VALENTINE'S DAY! When asked if they would pick one form of their shop over the other, both Lavendar and Jenny insisted that their business model would only be effective with both. Lavender has “customers who still prefer shopping online” and they constantly check her blog for updates. Jenny on the other hand, also sees her retail spaces as a marketing tool to redirect customers to her blog. But, before you jump onto the wagon, opening a blog shop is deceptively easy. As Alvin tells Youth.SG, “The true test [of setting up a shop] is the marketing and retailing that sets your brand apart… a large number of blog shops are created, but only a handful survive and succeed to the point where it can become a person's full-time income.” Therefore, uniqueness and exclusive designs, something that Jenny strongly believes in, is an important factor. “I get parts from overseas, all the way from US, Hong Kong, Israel because there is not much variety here in Singapore. You can’t go very far, or reach out to more people, if your designs are identical to others.” S PHOTOS: JEWELRY OF LAV, JENNY'S BITZ AND PIECES siti[a]youth.sg

Blogshop beauties sell and model their own clothes

This is a news article from the Straits Times, and focuses on the 'celebrity' aspects of the blogshop culture.

From the Diva Blog:  http://www.divaasia.com/article/5360

Tue, Sep 29, 2009

The Straits Times

Blogshop beauties sell and model their own clothes

by Magdalen Ng

Pretty Tammy Tay may not have the usual celebrity skills - she cannot act, dance or sing - yet the 18-year-old gets stopped on the street by strangers who want a photo with her.

They recognise the doe-eyed girl with the relaxed smile from her popular online clothes blogshop, OhsoFickle, where she doubles as the model.

Clare Chan (left): 1.64m, 47kg Magdalene Chan (right): 1.69m, 50kg Blogshop: Her Velvet Vase

Tay says modestly of these encounters with fans: 'I'm not a star, I'm just a normal person', but admits she is 'getting used to it'.

The good-looker is one of several blogshop beauties making a name for themselves by modelling the clothes and fashion goods they sell online.

They are young female students or ex-students who choose to model their own clothes because of cost, convenience and passion.

Being recognised by fans is not the only spin-off.
The co-owner of blogshop Agneselle, Ms Sim Pei Ling, 23, says she once got a discount on her food at a kiosk when a customer recognised her.

The downside of being a blogshop model is receiving unkind remarks or, worse, being stalked.

Seventeen-year-old Magdalene Chan, who with her sister Clare, 21, runs a blogshop called Her Velvet Vase on which they model their own designs, has encountered this.

She once had the scary experience of a stranger waiting for her outside the guardhouse of her condominium estate in the north-east.

The teenager, a student at an international school here, says: 'He knew my name and started telling me what a good model I was.'

She adds: 'I was freaked out and ran past him. I think the security guard told him off."

Another blogstore model, equity trader Sarah Lim, who runs acrossthebloodyuniverse with good friend Mery Lordianto, both 24, has been told how 'ugly she looks'.

'I'm only doing this for fun, so I get a little sad when I get attacked personally,' she says.

Parents also express concern about the girls putting up pictures of themselves. The 22-year-old co-owner of blogshop Holly Surprise, Ms Pauline Chen, says: 'My mum was quite apprehensive. She thinks it's not appropriate when I start working.'

Still, the girls acknowledge that using their own faces is a selling point. Ms Tay, for example, could probably afford to hire professional models but the feedback from customers is that they prefer to see her.

Pauline Chen: 1.57m, 43kg Blogshop: Holly Surprise

Online customer Christabel Png, a 21-year-old student, who buys at least three items from blogshops each month, says: 'Seeing a regular person wearing the clothes makes it more real and makes me believe that I can look good in them, too.'

And the Chan sisters say that modelling their own designs is important to them. 'We best understand the style concepts behind our clothes,' explains Clare, a graduate student at Monash University in Australia.
Their photos are either taken at home or by friends in a studio and may not be the most professional, but like Ms Tay, the sisters say this is exactly what customers want.

When they first modelled their clothes online, they blurred their faces or put on huge sunglasses to retain some form of anonymity. But customers wanted to know who the people were behind the blogshop so they could relate better.

And it seems to be a winning formula, going by Ms Tay's success. What started out as a way to earn some pocket money when she sold clothes that she no longer wore is now a full-time job and involves her travelling to Bangkok, China and Hong Kong to look for factories to manufacture her designs.

On average, she makes about $10,000 a month from her online blogshop and two brick and mortar shops in Far East Plaza and Haji Lane that she opened earlier this year.

Her mother Tracy Chan, who is in her 50s, quit her job as an interior designer to help her manage the shops.
With all these achievements, no wonder Ms Tay says of her online modelling: 'I really enjoy fashion and designing. If people buy my stuff because they prefer to see my face on my blogshop, then why not?'