How BB Wheels Spun a Craigslist Side Hustle into a $40M Ecommerce Business

Background

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, Shannon Bertram faced an unpaid loan that was settled instead with a pile of aftermarket wheels. A practical solution emerged: list the wheels on Craigslist and slowly recoup the money. What started as a quick fix evolved into a passion project when Shannon’s wife suggested turning the effort into a proper online store. By 2012, BB Wheels had surfaced as a family-run ecommerce operation, competing with national players like Amazon and eBay but offering small-town personalized service across all 48 continental states.

Challenges

As the catalog of wheel and tire options ballooned, BB Wheels needed more than a simple marketplace listing. Shopify capped product variants at 100 SKUs per item, while Magento required extensive customization and a sizeable technical budget. With limited in-house development resources, Shannon and his team needed a platform that balanced cost, catalog scalability, and ease of use.

Solution

After evaluating multiple platforms, BB Wheels landed on BigCommerce. The platform’s pricing aligned with the company’s budget, and its catalog capabilities met BB Wheels’s complex variant needs without extra custom code. Built-in security meant the team could focus on sales instead of maintenance. To extend functionality, the store tapped into BigCommerce’s app marketplace: integrating NetSuite via Celigo for ERP synchronization, Klaviyo for email marketing, Affirm for flexible payments, Yotpo for customer reviews, Export Stash for inventory exports, and Searchspring for advanced search filters. Together, these tools streamlined operations and improved shopper experiences.

Results

Over a 12-month comparison of 2020 to 2021, BB Wheels saw a 63% lift in conversion rate, a 34% increase in total revenue, and welcomed 8% more customers. The infrastructure improvements, coupled with targeted marketing automation and frictionless checkout, turned a legacy hardcore-custom catalog into a high-performing online business. BB Wheels now processes thousands of orders each month, supporting both consumer and dealer (B2B) accounts with tiered pricing and specialized discounts.

Future Outlook

With annual revenue approaching $40 million, the BB Wheels leadership team is planning a site redesign and expansion into adjacent accessory lines. The goal remains clear: maintain personalized service, leverage new BigCommerce features as they arrive, and push growth toward $60M in the next few years. As BB Wheels grows, the platform will continue to form the backbone of both consumer and wholesale channels, enabling the company to scale without major overhead spikes.