The main pro is a big one: it can make you a lot more money. Here’s how we proved it.

Before deciding to offer a product we not only test the quality but also the marketability of the product in helping our friends to make more money.

After deciding the paper met our quality standards, we sent 100 free sheets each, to six of our high volume customers. Our only request was that they price their colored shirts using the Alpha Hi-Gloss $2-$3 higher than whatever price they were charging for their standard Alpha Gold Dark transfer shirts (using the parchment paper that we mentioned in the Alpha Gold Dark section).

The reason for this is because an Alpha Gold Dark transfer, using the standard parchment paper sheet, produces a relatively “flat” image. It is a pretty image and certainly saleable (tens of thousands every year), but it does not look like a photograph.

Based on our 22 years of retail sales experience, we felt like many customers would pay a premium for a higher perceived value. We were correct.

We asked the six marketing Beta testers to keep track of their results, as best they could. The average consensus was that about 62% of their customers wanted (and bought) the “glossy” look and 38% wouldn’t pay more and got the “standard” Alpha Gold Dark transfer look.

This is still a lot of extra profit. Alpha Hi-Gloss pressing sheets only cost 25¢ for an 8.5x11 sheet and 50¢ for an 11x17 sheet.

Doing the math, this means that $150 of Alpha Hi-Gloss pressing paper produced around $1,500 extra profit for the six. We know they were pleased because every single one of them ordered the paper, after they ran out of their free samples.

Another small bonus is the fact that less of the color washes out on the dark transfer. All garments lose some color when washed (if you don’t think so, wash a nice $50 shirt in hot water and standard detergent and then compare it to one that hasn’t been washed), but the Alpha Hi-Gloss helps keep more color.

There are not too many cons but, as always, we present balanced facts to help you make the smartest decisions for yourself.

First, the paper really does have to be peeled cold, which means extra time. This could present a problem in a mobile retail environment, if speed was critical. Kiosks could also have a problem if they had no room to put the shirts, while they cooled. These are not necessarily bad facts, but they are worth keeping in mind.

Second, you can not use sublimation inks. This won’t make our sublimation customers (who also use sublimation ink on regular Alpha Gold Dark) happy, but there is nothing we can do about it. We used the Epson C-88 with the standard Epson DuraBrite ink cartridges.

Third, this process really needs to be presented (for good profits) as a premium product and some won’t feel comfortable doing this. I don’t guess this is a “con” as much as it is a fact. Our suggestion, if you feel like you must sell a product as cheaply as possible, is to stick with white shirts and our Alpha Double Green paper. You will make a profit.