1556 - Father/Sons: Ben Bush and Sons Ryan and Sterling, Part 2

Foreign. Doctor James Beckett Sports Card Insights Father's Day episode with the Bushes from Waco dealers on the local circuit. Here, an interesting story of how they do it as a family. Ben is the dad and Ryan and Sterling are the sons. Thanks. Sponsors Topps Panini Upper Deck Heritage Auctions, Hugs and Scott Auctions, Mike Stadium Sports Cards, Bradley Burbank sports cards comp c.com and Beckett Media. Beckett grading Beckett authentication broken into two parts. The second part goes a little deeper. It's the essence of who they are and I wanted to let them say that in their own words. Thanks Ben, Ryan and Sterling and the rest of the family that contributes as well. Here it is. From our very first show, we have received encouragement, help, whatever it was from so many people that have been there for a long time. We appreciate that very much. Now that we're four years in, we find ourselves being able to pass that along to others coming in new. So there's aspects there we weren't even thinking about. We've come to appreciate the Dallas show because even though the industry is still booming, the Dallas show remains a unique show. It remains an important show. You have to give credit to Kyle for, for starting what he did, growing it to what it is and then maintaining it. He should be recognized for that because you've got people coming from all over as vendors and customers to this show. So we're just happy to be a part of that process of doing unto others. The first time we went to the Dallas card show, which is this is the first card show we'd ever been to and we somehow landed a table in one of the side rooms and pretty quiet in there. And I went out into the main room, the big room for the first time. It was like stepping onto another planet. It was like, wow, it's easy to get overwhelmed. I don't care if you're a 10 year old kid, I don't care if you're 35 years old, you can be overwhelmed for the first time. Stepping into that, the very first table I stopped at, he's been a friend ever since. He helped me and Sterling understand some of the most foundational basics of card business because it was all new to us. We didn't know at the time that we were going into full time business soon and so many other people have helped us and continue to help us because the learning never stops. We were so new at our first bar show and I could go out the big beer Manhattan for a while. I come back to the table and I said, hey Ryan, what's a comp. But when you're buying a big collection, a whole bunch of cards, you can't comp every card. You've got to have some understanding and feel over time. Here's my secret. It's cheaper to buy cards by the pound. Yeah. So I'd rather buy a box. And not an unopened box but a box of mixed cards where there's some good ones in there. You guys, who's the person that parses them out that figures out how to triage to try to figure out this is going there? Do you guys do that together? It's more together. We kind of do it together. But I tend to say where everything goes as far as when we organize it because Brian's so busy running the show that he can grab some things. But I need to know where everything is so I can find it on the spur of the low end. Do you guys have hand signals or are you reading his mind? Yes. During the show, like somebody asks for, say a cowboys autograph. I have the show up on the computer. Computer. So I can see when a customer asks for that and I can go grab one. I know where to be. If I have it, it's going to be here. If I don't, obviously it won't be there. And we just say we don't have it. Sometimes just based off the feel of the room. Maybe bears are selling well or lions. You just find something. Google runs to those teams. Well, where are you guys going to be in five years, 10 years? It seems like you're on a roll, but things evolve. Just taking it one year at a time because you're not building up a huge inventory. You're running through the inventory. You're not a holding tank. Your business model is to get it in and get it out. This is just me speaking. Five years, that's a long way ahead. I don't know. Live streaming, I don't see that going away anytime soon. Whatnot's still growing. It's crazy how much whatnot's boomed. I see us doing this for the foreseeable future now. Our business itself is growing with what we're doing. I see us doing this for a couple more years at least. I would like to think we're doing well. Yes, we do have a growing business. We can't say that we've looked 10 years down the road, but two years ago we didn't foresee this at all. It just happened. And when their show took off, it kept growing and it continues to grow today. Along the way we're still having to make small adjustments as we go forward to handle the growth. We've actually had discussions about that. We had discussions about this years ago in Concrete. I saw guys whose business grew, but because they couldn't handle certain things, their business went under. It's the same thing in any other business, including cars. If you don't handle your growth, your business will suffer and could eventually fail. Do you guys consider this a hobby or you purely considered a business at this point because you're heavily into the business aspects? We enjoy the business we're doing. Yeah, we're definitely busy. There's no time for sitting around and doing nothing. There's enough variety in it. We don't get bored, but we do keep doing business. What's your not family mission statement or family brand necessarily, but what do you want your customers and the people that know you to think about your family and your business by the way you do business and the way you handle yourself because you're in that ecosystem and you're adding value and you're, I think, doing it the right way. Is that your family brand? I'm speaking here as the Father. This is a God thing. And because we know that we conduct our business in certain ways and the do unto others part is right there in the center of it. We've been able to meet people that have bad experiences in their life in certain areas. And we have conversations that just naturally open up and we're able to basically point them to God, point them to the scriptures and let them know that yes, there are answers to these problems that you've experienced. And we've seen God literally in our shows, do things in the lives of others. That's where we are as a family. And we never try to force anything, but you never know what's going to occur with the people you meet along the way. And so we're always ready. A lot of collectors that come into a card show, they're pretty quick to take the credit. If something good happens, then they want to blame God if something bad happens. And it's the same God they don't really even believe in. So it seems like you shouldn't be able to have it both ways. Either God gets the credit or if anything bad happens, I have to be perfectly honest, that's my fault. I'm just saying that's the opposite of the way people want to think. If something bad happened, it wasn't my fault. If something happened, I'll take credit for that. You don't get very blaming God in the long run, it doesn't work. But still, just trying to do the right thing is good. I've said short term, it's not always. It doesn't seem best to do things God's way again. The golden rule of doing it others is you'd have them do it to you. But long term, it pays off. There can be some setbacks. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. So there's no guarantees there. But in the long run, and as a dad myself that I want to set the tone for my family, let's do things the right way in business and in our regular other family traditions. Ryan and Sterling, what's the number one thing you've learned from your dad through working with him in this way? Because it's a completely different thing than the concrete. Because he's not the expert in this. I admire you, Ben, for stepping back and allowing them to flourish. It's the extension of what you learn in construction, like pouring concrete in the middle of a summer day. Certain things are the way they are. Conditions wise. You can't force things to happen. We may travel to a show this weekend and expect certain things to be there. You can't be upset if they're not there. Things don't go the way you planned. So in that regard, each show is different and that's why it's important to treat people right along the way. So if an extension of what we learned growing up, that's kind of multifaceted, but that would be something I think that stays with me definitely throughout the week because it's a cycle I have to be aware of each time we go to a show. We can make plans all we want to, but you just never know how it's going to turn out. Just keep your head down and do what you can do and leave the rest up to God. Do the next right thing. Sterling, Another thing, something. Sometimes you have to hush when you're dealing with somebody because you're talking about the people that don't do unto others and you're dealing with them. And sometimes you can get frustrated dealing with people happen. Most people at the card shows are easy to deal with, but every now and then you're getting frustrated and you have to remind yourself that I can't say the thing I might want to say. And sometimes I'm not going to get a deal done, but I just don't say anything stupid. And sometimes we wind up getting a deal done. And I'm like, wow, I bet he was right. The whole law, imagine that. Treat people right and it works out. Part of it is we try not to make it personal. We're trying to buy cards from somebody. Let's not make it personal. If we can't come to an agreement, that's just a rule we kind of go by and it pays off. I think it pays off every time, to be honest with you. Don't get mad at somebody. Every now and then, you'll run into a crank. But just don't make it personal. Try to get a deal done. If so, great. If not, move on. Next table. Hey, Ben, these two guys here, I've seen them in action. What character qualities are you proud of in your two sons that are here? When someone says something positive about the boys and they'll tell you, this is my standard response, I said, it's their mother's fault. If you know me and my wife, there's a lot in that, because it's not just me as the father. They've got a wonderful mother. Through the years, we've had experiences where as a family, we had to trust God. To this day, we still talk about those experiences because they're still teaching us. Experiences like that bring you together and then help keep you together. Also, my wife and I, we homeschooled all of our children their whole time through school. And early on, it was all new to us. And we were wondering, are we doing the right thing? Are the children even listening to us? And every time we had those bouts, the children would say something or do something that would let us know, yes, they are listening. The lessons are being learned. So it's been rewarding the whole time, even now, to watch the lessons that weren't learned just long ago, but are being extended into the future. They're still being added to. So that's probably one of the most rewarding aspects, is not just that they listen to me in the past, but they're still listening and they're still learning and they're still growing in their relationship with God himself. I can see that. Their mother can see that. That's probably, broadly speaking, one of the things that is the most rewarding. We're seeing the results of obedience, doing what God said, even during those really tough times. Then when you survive those, the times of blessing are enjoyed even more because you see the blessings come from going through those hard times. And then you watch as God actually blesses you like he said he would. One question. The baseball trading card market. I don't know if there's any data on a Question like this, but what do you think will happen to the market and maybe specifically to Ohtani's market in the event of a labor stoppage this winter that maybe delays the 2027 season? Let me answer that in two parts. The first part is historically that happened in 94, 95 and not only did it crush the baseball business very quickly, the business dropped in half on baseball. But it also had a really bad effect on the other sports too because it was heavy baseball in those days. That was what drove the train. Fast forward to now and looking at next year were not as baseball dependent. So football and basketball I think will do fine. Now some card shops will suffer because of the drop in baseball and baseball will drop, but it'd be unwise for them to do that somehow. They messed it up 30 years ago and I hope they don't. They asked me for my advice. I'd say don't bury the hatchet inside each other's skull, but for find some common ground. There's a lot of money in the sport and in collectibles. Don't mess it up like you guys are saying. It can get emotional. Each side wants to win. In reality, we're all in this together. Ryan, I really hope that doesn't happen, but if it does, yes, there'll be some suffering. Baseball would be making a big mistake, but again, they're fighting over millions of dollars. DFW area is considered the hub of the card industry across the nation. Can you speak about that? I've said that many years ago and it's even more true now. Leaf is here, Panini's here. Tops has a big giant facility just barely east of town. Kyle's shows, there are none better of the regional shows. Lots of strong card shops now. So I think Dallas, mainly Dallas, but the broader Dallas Central Texas area is a hub. It's a happening place. So then we will suffer. Kyle's shows will not be as good if there's a baseball strike. Again. It gets outside of being rational about it, it gets emotional. I'm a peacemaker and I'm a mediator, but what's going to happen here is going to be litigation, which is not mediation. It's going to be who's right and who's wrong instead of how can we work together. And so if I were the mediator, I'd force these guys to get together and say, how can we work this out? Let's lock up in a room and not come out till we get it resolved for the good of the sport, for the good of the fans and for the good of each other. That's my soapbox there. But I am not in charge. Actually when I was in charge of stuff. It's still a heavy burden then it's tough to make the right calls. Did we say something? Go ahead. Thank you for the buddy treated us. We appreciate it very much. Okay, thank you guys. And next show you go to, please don't sell out until I at least get a glimpse of what you have. Oh my goodness. Get there the first day. I'm saying sometimes I have a family obligation. Last Thursday. And you guys are quick. I didn't think you'd be that quick. I thought I at least 10 till Friday. But no, this time we'll hold on to until Friday. Don't do it on my account. Take the best deal. But like I said, I understand how you pick and pull some of these things. And you guys are doing a good job because it's necessary to be able to sell each segment of what you buy. The guys that only can sell the top stuff or if you could only sell on whatnot. Yes, that'd be a big part of it. But you've got to be able to parcel out everything. You must be doing a good job of that because you're always coming up with more stuff. Because if you're buying right, that's the key. You got to buy right. That's the hard part. Yeah. Unless you have a lane and outlet for selling the cards to make it make sense for you is doing $.