As far as I know, all talent agencies in Taipei charge fees, because preparatory work and self-promotion require considerable costs. Only by covering these costs can one access job opportunities through the agency’s platform. As for performance, everyone has different characteristics, so before making a decision, one should first conduct a self-assessment rather than signing a contract and only later discovering that it is unsuitable, then blaming everyone and everything and making a bunch of excuses. That is not responsible to oneself at all.
Feel that it is not suitable for oneself
Training and photo shoots at talent agencies on the market almost always come with a fee; amateur models really have to rely on their own abilities...
Unable to accommodate work on weekdays....
I mostly take on jobs on Saturdays. Three months after I joined the company, I also brought my boyfriend in, because I think he is quite a handsome guy. We once went to Neihu together to shoot for a newspaper supplement, I think it was the Liberty Times. Each person was paid NT$2,000–3,000. We also took on some online clothing shoots, at about the same rate. However, to be honest, it seems that I have had more work than my boyfriend. Since we joined the company, I have already earned back the promotional fee we paid, but my boyfriend has not yet. The manager did say that women generally have slightly more work than men, and I roughly knew that as well. Throughout the process, though, we both really enjoyed sharing our work experiences each time. Personally, I think everyone’s opportunities are somewhat different. The company is a professional platform that provides opportunities for us, but many people still make comments. After all, you still need to assess whether it is suitable for you. I believe many people have made money from this work, while some may not have. It is just like investing: why do investment contracts always say, in the end, that investors bear the risks themselves? Before taking the job, think carefully about whether it is something you really like...
Sometimes the work hours are on weekdays, which I cannot accommodate.
I enjoy taking photos. Later, I also worked part-time as a commercial print model for the company. The income wasn’t much—only around 2,000–3,000 each time—but I like this work. Although the work may only come once every one or two months, I really ENJOY this part-time job. Many people criticize the promotional fees charged by companies, but many agencies in Taipei do charge fees. Previously, I attended the celebrity talent academy founded by Wang Wei-chung at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, and the training fee was also NT$40,000–50,000. Yilin’s training classes also had to be paid for out of pocket. I actually think it is simply a matter of whether the person concerned accepts the concept. If you can accept it, you can sign a contract with the other party. If you cannot accept it, then get a full-time job instead. You can choose the path you want to take. Don’t blindly assume that something is necessarily wrong. After all, there are two sides to everything. If you like it, go for it; if you don’t, then don’t. You can make your own choice. Also, in theory, this company mainly represents ordinary people. I checked, and it has indeed been operating on Fuxing North Road for five years. The work model for ordinary people doing photo shoots is inherently part-time income. Mr. Allen also told me at the beginning that this was not about becoming a celebrity. I thought it through carefully before signing with him. Whenever there is work, I go shoot for the company; when there isn’t, I also have my regular job. I think it’s pretty good.
Everyone needs to think carefully about what they want for themselves.
I’ve been given a variety of work—not just flat-lay product photography, but also a role as a powerful personal security guard in Eastern Broadcasting’s The Lion King production. It was a lot of fun. Although the pay wasn’t much—just NT$1,000–2,000—I was still very happy. After all, I genuinely enjoy performing work. Many people focus on money, but I think having a sense of participation in life is more important. I’m also grateful to Allen for giving me work opportunities. To be honest, the total compensation amounted to around NT$20,000–30,000 over half a year, which I didn’t think was a lot. But seeing my work in the Liberty Times and showing it to my friends made everyone quite happy. I think Allen really does support newcomers. However, everyone’s results and achievements are naturally very different, so I also think I need to reflect on myself—whether I was fully prepared with my poses and facial expressions for every photo shoot. If I perform well, I can attract clients and make them like my work, which will help raise the company’s profile. Let’s all work hard and keep it up.
There could be more work.
We had a very enjoyable conversation. Mr. Allen is not very familiar with the internet, and he does not focus much on appearance either; he mainly considers whether a person has the right qualities.
I am not particularly good-looking, but I was still recognized.
In fact, recruiting ordinary people gives others dreams, but you should not hold on too deeply to this dream yourself.
Working with Vice President Allen is always full of laughter and good cheer. Taking photos is simply entertainment, without expecting anything in return.
The company is just a platform; whether you can really make money depends on yourself.
I didn’t make any money, but getting to know this industry and making friends along the way was worthwhile.
That’s simply how developing newcomers works; building good relationships with people is the true blessing in a career.
模詰 is also operating on a small scale. It seems unrealistic to keep emphasizing recouping the investment; in fact, it is simply giving newcomers an opportunity.
The following middle-aged man is still stealing from the company. If necessary, we will present surveillance footage as evidence. Stop throwing your weight around under false pretenses.
We will also pay more attention while at work.
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First, you have to pay for promotional cards: 7 yuan per photo and 32 yuan for postage. The total quantity must be a multiple of 500, costing over ten thousand yuan. Charging 32 yuan to mail one photo is unreasonable, isn’t it? You can’t send them by email. Is it possible to mail them to 500 or even 1,000 companies? Please be very careful.
No advantages
You first need to spend money on promotional cards: NT$7 per photo plus NT$32 postage. The total quantity must be a multiple of 500, costing over NT$10,000. Charging NT$32 to mail one photo is unreasonable, isn’t it? You can’t send them by email. Is it possible to mail them to 500 or even 1,000 companies? Be extremely careful.
It really felt like being a model during the shoot
The photography looked professional, but in reality they just had me do a few simple poses commonly seen in magazines.
Then someone guided me to talk with Allen about the contract details.
They pretended to be looking for ordinary people for modeling jobs on 104 Job Bank,
to lower your guard. They told you that they had hundreds of online-shopping companies and dozens of magazine print advertisements on hand,
all of which would become your sources of income.
A new product bag was deliberately placed on the chair behind me.
They told me that my next job would be this project and that they would help me shoot advertising copy for the product.
Then they listed the fees for the promotional photos: 7*35*500*3. They listed a bunch of multipliers simply to make your eyes glaze over.
In the end, the cost came to nearly NT$60,000. The contract looked reasonable at first glance,
but in reality it only benefited the company and completely exploited newcomers who came in for interviews.
At the time, I thought I looked fairly good, so I figured the part-time income seemed pretty decent. I could make one or two thousand dollars an hour, and a better project could even pay seven or eight thousand. Even if there was only one job a month, I would eventually be able to recoup the money I invested if I kept at it.
Because of this wishful thinking, I trusted what he said.
Fortunately, my credit card limit was not high enough, so I could only pay half the fee.
That meant I had to go back the next day to pay the remaining half.
When I got home that day, I kept thinking about the situation, because during our conversation he had also mentioned an extra-role job to me.
I also noticed that one clause in the contract said that if the company did not arrange any work within three weeks, it would provide a full refund.
So an extra-role job could count as one of the projects too. But as far as I knew, extra work was time-consuming and not profitable at all.
That immediately jolted me awake from my dream.
As soon as I got home, I thought of a plan. Since I had paid only half the amount, he foolishly assumed that I was easy to talk to and would definitely return the next day.
So I made up an excuse, saying that the bank required me to first reverse the charge from the previous day before it could raise my credit limit, and that I could then charge the full amount in one transaction and pay it in installments.
Sure enough, he completely believed me, thinking that the easy mark was about to be caught and that he could hold a celebration dinner that evening.
I also made up the excuse that after the reversal, I would need another 30 minutes for the credit-limit adjustment before I could charge the next amount.
I took the original contract with me while I had the chance, and got all my money back.
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Countless
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A glamorous modeling position wrapped in polished rhetoric, wasting interviewees’ valuable time and money! Helpful users have shared information about this on Mobile01 (just search the company name on Google to learn the truth), and the company is suspected of selling interviewees’ contact information, because after the interview, there is a sudden influx of scam or sexually oriented Line invitations. If you aspire to work in performance or modeling, choosing reputable training programs such as those offered by National Taiwan University of Arts or Broadcasting Corporation of China will definitely be more rewarding and provide more tangible help.
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I was charged NT$15,000, which I have already paid in full. If any of this is untrue, the company is welcome to sue me.
Simply put, as others have said, photographing one outfit costs 800, and five outfits cost 4,000. I was also prepared to provide my own clothes, but the company said the photos would look better if they used theirs.
Various printing fees—for business cards, photos, and so on—were supposed to total NT$60,000. The company also said that if I changed my mind, it would be fine, and that I only needed to pay NT$15,000 for the photos taken that day. (On a CD.) When I took out my credit card, the staff quickly took it away to run the charge. When they found that they couldn't charge NT$15,000, they even told me to contact the bank.
The reason I was foolish enough to be deceived at the time was that I was exhausted after working 12 hours. I went there right after getting off work, and agreed to everything without thinking. The conversations between the female and male employees were extremely disgusting.
Female employee A: What should I do? My boyfriend's mother told my boyfriend to break up with me! Because I got pregnant and had an abortion, got pregnant and had an abortion.
Female employee B: Your boyfriend's mom is really sticking her nose into other people's business! You did absolutely nothing wrong; what's the big deal about this kind of thing! She must have nothing better to do &_%√€£¢
Male employee A: (walking over and saying) I think all the women in Taiwan should be just like you!
%%%Putting aside the absurd cycle of having unprotected sex, repeatedly getting pregnant, and having abortions, the coworkers even supported it. And rather than the male coworker saying, “Don't chat during work!” he said that all women in Taiwan should be like that. What kind of workplace is this? It's terrifying!
The main reason I'm still holding a grudge is that I was charged NT$15,000. I only found this webpage after being charged, and I was so upset I could have cried. To prevent more people from becoming victims, I decided to post this! Incidentally, not long after they deceived me, they “closed” the job-recruitment webpage.
After some time, I imagine they'll use the same trick again. On the day they successfully deceived me, the female employee was eating McDonald's! Countless men and women went into the boss's office and then rushed back out; I figure they couldn't get their money back and, like me, left angrily ^_^
The boss did explain things in detail, that's true. But there was a lot of basic sweet-talking and exaggeration. One photo costs 3 yuan, so 100 photos would only be 300 yuan—where did printing fees of 60,000 come from? They also said they would distribute them to major companies for promotion, so they needed a lot of copies, roughly a whole disc. But could printing really cost as much as 60,000?
In short, they painted a very grand picture, but the detailed explanation was too vague. When I went to the police station to report it, the police even spoke on their behalf, saying, “But didn't you receive the CD files? Then it doesn't count as fraud, right?” What kind of crazy thing is that to say, officer? Do you want me to take a few photos of you and then charge you NT$15,000?
This is the most damnable blunder of my life so far. It isn't the first time I've been deceived, but this is a record-high amount, right? I hope this company gets reported in the news soon and can no longer scam anyone else.
To add: someone mentioned that one photo costs 7 yuan and postage costs 32 yuan; that's true. There were also various other miscellaneous charges on-site! It's that clothing fee of 800 per outfit.
Originally, they wanted to charge NT$60,000, but fortunately I had a spending limit set. Otherwise, three months of my salary would have vanished.
Although I was still deceived, I thought it would be good to post this as a warning to everyone. Charging you NT$60,000 before you even have a job is also ridiculous.
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● Interview content
▶ Explanation of job advantages:
。No experience required, interesting, high pay, short and flexible hours (but no guarantee of getting any CASEs)
。After each CASE ends, the photos will be mailed to the model as a keepsake
▶ Explanation of investment:
。You are asked to pay for promotional photos for clients to view
。Amount: 500 per photo x postage x printing
。If there are no CASEs within three weeks, the full amount will be refunded
● Personnel
▶ Person in charge, Mr. A:
。The only one who was “polite and sincere”
。However, after the discussion and contract signing, the people carrying out the work were not him but others
。Busy and difficult to contact
。His answers were vague, unable to satisfy me or alleviate my concerns
▶ Other employees (except the photographer/stylist):
。They made me feel unwelcome, as if I were a nuisance
。After the CASE ended, they did not mail the promised keepsake photos
I had to go through Mr. A and repeatedly remind them before they would give them to me; if I did not press them, they simply would not give them to me
。Overall, they seemed too lazy to deal with me and were very irresponsible. I felt there was no security in leaving my affairs in their hands
● Promotional photos
▶ Beauty turned into an old woman
I could not understand the stylist’s taste. After the styling and makeup were done, I was completely devastated
I had truly never looked this ugly in my life. Everyone who saw them said:
“Those don’t suit you at all, you look much prettier in person, they make you look 20 years older than you are, and they’re unbelievably ugly!”
▶ Old woman turned into an overweight woman
。The styling was already beyond saving, and various factors during the shoot may have caused the final product to make me look about 8 kg heavier than I actually am
。When I first looked at the photos, my eyes were drawn to:
The most eye-catching focal points: elephant-like legs and flabby upper arms
Next: an unsuitable outfit
Third: an old woman’s face
The whole thing was extremely devastating
▶ Photos that may not have been retouched—scary enough to drive away evil spirits—were printed as they were
。The overly thick and oversized hands and feet, and skin darkened by the sun with an obvious black-and-white demarcation
These basic flaws, which the general public would clearly not accept, were completely retained by this supposedly professional company…
。If they were retouched, honestly, even I, who work in this industry, could not tell what had been retouched
Personally, I felt they did absolutely nothing to enhance the model’s appearance
Instead, every flaw was magnified and displayed in a stark, exposed manner
(I do not know whether my promotional photos were submitted to the client according to the company’s usual procedures. After seeing the comments below, I have also started to worry.)
Result:
。No clients wanted me at all, and I could not get any CASEs
。The promotional photos were so unattractive that they were impossible to look at and unsuitable as keepsakes
I could not use them with other companies either, meaning I had spent a large amount of money on something useless to me
● Questions
▶ During the interview, Mr. A repeatedly emphasized:
。Do not believe the “rumors” about this company online
。The company operates legally (providing a business license) and does actual work (providing newspaper features)
At the time, I felt that the company
had already experienced multiple disputes, frequently had disputes, and knew that its reputation outside was poor
Now I can understand why
▶ If the number of CASEs is not guaranteed, why not reduce or even eliminate the model’s investment risk and create a win-win situation?
For example: In today’s digital age, electronic promotional-photo files can be sent to clients through any digital channel
Printing and postage could be completely waived, so why not?
Other than “making money from amateurs by charging them for promotional photos” (a common practice among many modeling agencies),
is there another explanation? I did not ask Mr. A about this
▶ Regarding the practice among modeling agencies of “making money from amateurs by charging them for promotional photos”
Mr. A explained:
1. There is little money in promotional photos, so there is no need to covet it: Why not just find a few more suckers…
2. The company’s main income comes from taking a commission on CASEs obtained by models:
Wouldn’t that make it even more important to ensure the quality of the promotional photos?
For people working in print media, retouching skills are a basic necessity, yet I did not see that
The promotional photos gave the impression of being so insincere
These two explanations were completely insufficient reasons in my view
3. We have no obligation to guarantee anything
I was speechless, though I understand this profit-making mindset
All the risks are placed on the models. This kind of arrangement cannot even be called “cooperation”; rather, it gave me the feeling that I was being prepared to be “skinned”
▶ Received the first CASE on the “last day” of the third week
。My guess: The CASE was given to avoid having to refund the promotional-photo fee under the contract
。I did not receive any other CASEs afterward
● Personal summary
I do not have concrete evidence proving
this company’s sincerity or purpose in recruiting amateurs
But my feeling since applying has been one of concern that I would be unable to recoup my costs, along with indifference
I originally signed the contract because of Mr. A (he appeared very honest, sincere in his attitude, and straightforward)
Quite a few amateur models signed for the same reason as I did, and ultimately ended without recovering their costs
Only afterward, when I searched online, did I discover that:
。The promotional-photo fees they paid were shockingly high—several times mine
。Regarding the job advantages, what Mr. A told them was even more exaggerated than what he told me
Fortunately, even if this company really did bring me in as a sucker,
my loss was not as painful as theirs (though I still feel I lost a lot)
If I were a job seeker, I would not consider applying to this company
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They invited me through 104, presenting themselves as very respectable.
The first time I went for an interview, the girl who asked me to fill out the forms had a face as sour as a dead fish. Maybe she works for a scam operation and feels guilty about it all day.
Then they asked me to go into a room to film a short demo video, saying it would be sent to clients. Who knows whether they actually sent it?
As a result, the Mr. Zeng I had arranged to meet still hadn't shown up after making me wait an hour. Since I had other things to do, I told them I had to leave first.
I had brought a huge load of clothes with me, so they wasted my time and energy.
Later, Mr. Zeng texted me again saying they wanted me to come take photos, telling me to bring 4–5 outfits and that I could come without makeup. What's wrong with requiring me to be bare-faced for a photo shoot?
His tone on the phone sounded very crude and rude. I didn't suspect anything and still went, bringing another huge load of clothes, and they made me wait again.
In the end, he took me into a small room covered with revealing photo shoots of women, with an ashtray inside. It felt like I had no idea what kind of strange things this person did in that little room.
The first thing he asked was whether I had any questions. I thought, WTF? Aren't you going to introduce yourselves? Do you think I'm a mind reader who knows what the hell you people are doing?
I said, “Uh... I'd like to understand the pay situation.”
He impatiently gave me a brief explanation, rolling his eyes repeatedly throughout the process. What the hell was that attitude? You were the one who called me here. Is there something wrong with you?
Then he asked again whether I had any questions. I was so annoyed that I said, “No, I guess that's it.”
He then took out a simple contract and said that if I could accept it, I should sign it, after which they would start taking photos and helping me find gigs.
I thought: I'm just doing this part-time. If I get a gig, I earn money; if not, it doesn't matter. This is just how I look, and this isn't even my career goal. I have my own job anyway, so whatever.
But when I looked at the contract, one clause said that Party B had to bear the promotional printing costs. I asked him what that meant.
He rolled his eyes again and explained that they would take promotional photos, print them as small cards, and mail them to clients—about 1,200 copies (I think it used to be 500; now they're making a ridiculously high demand and treating people who don't know better like easy targets). I would also have to pay the postage: NT$7 per card plus NT$32 for registered mail. I did the mental math.
Holy crap, that comes to more than NT$40,000. I'm here for part-time work, and you're asking me to pay? Have you got it wrong? Do you think I'm an idiot?
I said I couldn't accept that part. He said I could pay in installments. I thought: What is this? Have I run into gangsters, where I can't get out of this door unless I sign and pay?
Later, I pretended to try to understand the industry and asked whether the small cards were sent to 1,200 companies or what. He said they were sent to 1,200 people.
He also said I could do only 1,000 copies. I thought: In this day and age, are people still mailing physical cards by registered post? Do you think I'm an idiot? If you're taking promotional photos, can't you put them on your own website for your clients to browse? Do you really have to mail physical promotional photos and waste the Earth's resources?
The main point is, I'm here for part-time work, and you're asking me to pay. That in itself makes no logical sense. He made it sound like an investment, but I had no idea when I would even break even after doing the math. Only an idiot would pay for this.
Later, he said, “What I'm more worried about is whether you can coordinate your schedule, because you've already paid this promotional fee. If I send you a gig but you have to work, then getting only 2–4 gigs a month would be pretty good. That's what I'm more worried about.” Then he said that a film company happened to be looking for four temporary actors that day, so he would recommend people from his roster to them. He even showed me his LINE chat history to create an impression of legitimacy.
I later asked whether there were people who had taken photos but rarely got gigs.
He said there were, basically because it depended on whether clients liked their appearance and whether they themselves could coordinate their schedules.
“Look at all the promotional cards taken by other people on the floor. They're stacked up in piles. All these people couldn't coordinate their schedules, so it was a waste too.”
Please. It's easy to trick other people, but if you want to trick me, dream on. You said we had to pay the printing and postage costs, and that you would mail the promotional cards to clients for us.
Aren't you contradicting yourself? You signed contracts with these people, and they paid you the printing and postage costs, yet you still haven't mailed the cards for them.
They're stacked on the floor. What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be responsible for mailing their promotional cards to clients so the clients know that your company has these people available for gigs? Then what is that pile on the floor? Does that mean you took people's money and didn't do the work? You still have the nerve to argue with me?
This was unbelievably absurd. I didn't want to waste any more time listening to him spin stories, watching him roll his eyes, hearing his incredibly provincial Mandarin, and staying in that bizarre room. I told him I couldn't sign the contract and left. Once again, I had carried a huge load of clothes there for nothing, and I wasted time listening to all this. He kept telling me to think it over and consider it again. Are you kidding me? I'm here to make money, and you want me to pay you. Listen to yourself. Only an idiot would believe this lousy company. It's ridiculous.
I really advise everyone not to be fooled by the future of supposedly great income that they package and sell. All he wants is to make money from your promotional printing fees. That's all there is to it. Stop being foolish. Go home and Google it yourself—there are tons of similar experiences on PTT. I'm really glad I wasn't stupid enough to get scammed.
Gives you a dream
- Pay a sum upfront. It depends on the amount in your contract with her. I paid over 58,000, and the total amount for 24 installments was over 70,000—more than 10,000 in interest.
- You can’t make ends meet each month; the money coming in isn’t enough to pay the installment card bills.
- Feels like being scammed
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For those who have been through this and suffered a loss, here is some information for anyone considering joining:
First, during the initial interview, he focuses on your potential future income, making it sound as though it will be easy to earn a substantial amount. He also casually mentions that promotional cards cost seven dollars each to print, making it seem like a very small expense, and asks you to bring clothes next time for a test shoot.
When you go back the second time, he tells you that in addition to the seven-dollar promotional fee per card, there is also a 32-dollar registered-mailing fee per card, with a minimum order of 500 cards. He then gives you several plans to choose from. Plan One only includes advertisements for online shopping photography; nothing else is included, and there may not be a case every month. Plan Two includes online shopping photography and magazines. Although it appears to provide more channels for assignments, because there are two channels, he charges double the promotional fee: (7+32)*500*2. And so on; there are four plans in total.
Once you sign the contract, even if you immediately change your mind the next day and no longer want to do it, the person who likes to call himself “Brother A” will insist that everything must proceed according to the contract. He will demand 50% of the fees, even though the materials have not yet been sent for printing and no assignments have yet been received from clients. Even if you reason with him calmly and ask whether he can reduce the charge, he will refuse to compromise. If you raise any objections, he will threaten to take you to court; if you argue with him, be careful—he may also threaten to sue you.
Anyone considering working there should think very carefully. I am someone who suffered a loss and lost money because of this.