From traditional factories to newcomers in cross-border e-commerce, from knowing nothing about listing to being proficient in advertising, from high logistics costs to multi-point overseas warehouse layouts... Raccoon Machinery's transformation path is a vivid microcosm of the Chinese manufacturing industry embracing digitalization and moving towards the global market.
Today, we have an in-depth conversation with Ma Song, general manager of Raccoon Machinery, to reveal the wonderful story of how this typical “integrated industry and trade” seller staged a “big man fights back” on Amazon, providing a new idea for the Chinese manufacturing industry to go overseas.

seller business card
Company name: Shandong Raccoon Machinery Co., Ltd.
Online site: US station
Joined: November 2024
Main categories: 1-2 ton small excavators, skid steer loaders
Outstanding Achievements: Successfully explored the “bulky commodity” excavator's overseas mode, and sold very well

“Instead of competing in the Red Sea, it's better to make waves in the Blue Sea. ” In 2024, in the face of the increasingly fierce price war in the domestic excavator market, Ma Song set his sights on the other side of the ocean.
In 2024, competition in the domestic excavator market is heated, and price wars are rising one after another. As the new generation leader of the Jining Machinery Industry Belt, Ma Song keenly realized that continuing to fight in the domestic market may just be a war of attrition, and looking at the world, we may be able to find new growth points.

1. Producing genes to become seabed gas
As an important pillar province in China's machinery manufacturing industry, Shandong has maintained a leading position in the country with its complete industrial chain and professional strength in segmented fields. As one of the six major construction machinery bases in the country, Jining has become a leader in the field of small excavator manufacturing with the advantage of a dense cluster of supporting enterprises.

3. Why Amazon?
After understanding this market opportunity, Raccoon Machinery officially entered Amazon in November 2024. There are thoughtful strategic considerations behind choosing Amazon as a platform to go overseas:
● Global coverage: Amazon has opened 20 overseas sites for Chinese sellers, with hundreds of millions of active consumers and 6 million+ corporate buyers, covering more than 200 countries and regions, providing a broad space for growth for Raccoon's global layout.
● Accurate reach: “We found that the overseas customer base for small excavators is very large and scattered, and Amazon just happened to have built an efficient channel to reach this large number of users. ” Ma Song analyzed.
● Strategic resonance: Amazon has continued to increase its attention and support for innovative products and oversized products in China in recent years. This strategic direction is highly compatible with raccoon's cross-border needs.

When Jining's mechanical manufacturing strength met Amazon's global marketing system, a cross-border e-commerce revolution for “big” products began.

A raccoon's trip out to sea is essentially a “genetic recombination” challenge. In stark contrast to the traditional passive model of “single and re-production” in foreign trade, cross-border e-commerce requires initiative, lays out production ahead of time and attracts end consumers through sophisticated operations.

1. The difficult exploration of building a cross-border team from scratch
“The shortage of cross-border talent is the first wall we face. ” Ma Song recalled.

Ma Song - General Manager of Raccoon Machinery:
“Compared to coastal regions, Jining lacks a mature cross-border e-commerce ecosystem and talent pool. Many people are still at the stage where they know little about Amazon's operations. Abbottt, Premiere Creative’s creative director.

Although Ma Song himself has multiple roles such as product selection, logistics, and resource construction, it is difficult to support a complete operation system no matter how strong a person is. Faced with this predicament, he made a bold decision: train a dedicated cross-border team from scratch.
Specific measures include:
● Organize regular product uploads, keyword settings, and advertising training.
● Establish a strict data review mechanism to analyze the successful experiences and failure lessons of each link.
● Multi-dimensional ability development to create complex talents with full-link capabilities” Now our operation team has grown to a size of 10 people, everyone has multiple abilities, and the overall operating efficiency is satisfactory. More importantly, the team continues to expand. “Ma Song said proudly.

2. Amazon's “step by step” guidance helps growth
The professional support provided by Amazon was instrumental in the transformation process. Raccoon received a “many-to-one” support team composed of official managers, corporate purchase account managers, etc., and the two sides repeatedly communicated on operational logic, logistics rules, and after-sales system construction, turning the exploration of “crossing the river by touching a stone” to an accurate game breaker with “someone to guide the way, with lights and lighting.”

Specific support includes:
● Store registration guide: Amazon's official manager analyzes the error-prone points of the registration page item by item, shares cases of similar merchants stepping on the pit, and helps Raccoon efficiently complete the store setup.
● Brand flagship store construction: In response to Raccoon's technical advantages, enterprise purchasing account managers recommend embedding core technical data and qualification certifications that customers are concerned about to optimize module selection, page layout and product display priorities.
● Keyword and advertising optimization: Starting from first-line institutional customer procurement scenarios, combining popular search terms from institutional customers, proposing keyword optimization strategies, and holding regular data review meetings with the operation team to jointly optimize advertising terms and marketing strategies, significantly increasing product exposure by 60%.

Ma Song - General Manager of Raccoon Machinery:
“Through close collaboration with the Amazon team, our team, which initially knew nothing about cross-border trade, learned the 'new course' of e-commerce and achieved a breakthrough from 0 to 1. Abbottt, Premiere Creative’s creative director.

1. Initial dilemmas: high costs and delivery challenges
“At the beginning, we used LTL (LTL) delivery and the cost was astonishingly high. ” Ma Song recalled.

Ma Song - General Manager of Raccoon Machinery:
“A device can cost more than $2,000 to ship, almost like losing money. Abbottt, Premiere Creative’s creative director.
In addition to cost issues, “last mile” delivery is just as tricky. Overseas private residential areas are extensive and scattered, and the delivery of large machinery and equipment faces many restrictions, including road width and unloading conditions.

2. Multi-dimensional logistics optimization campaign
Faced with the difficult situation, the raccoon did not back down, but instead solved the problem from multiple dimensions:
● Packaging optimization: The team repeatedly polished the packaging plan and transported the space-taking but detachable parts separately, which not only saved the size and cost, but also made it easier to handle and reduce damage.
● Coordinate delivery: On the one hand, negotiate with the carrier to seek more door-to-door delivery opportunities, and on the other hand, guide users to participate in cooperation, such as picking up goods themselves or coordinating forklift unloading.
● Self-built overseas warehouses: Expanded from zero to 5 warehouses in a short period of time (3 of which are self-operated warehouses), greatly improving delivery efficiency and overall logistics capacity.
● Emergency plan: establish a logistics emergency mechanism in extreme situations.

Ma Song shared a typical example: Last winter, Chicago experienced a cold wave. The temperature plummeted to minus 30 degrees, transportation routes were completely shut down, and customers who had been unable to wait for the goods were extremely anxious. Faced with continuous reminders, the team did not shy away, but instead calmed the customer's emotions one by one and clarified delivery expectations. As soon as the weather improved, the warehouse resumed operations and the goods were delivered as soon as possible, minimizing the negative impact of the delay.
“After 3-4 months of continuous exploration and adjustment, our transportation costs gradually declined from high losses to slight losses and remained flat, and eventually achieved profit. Abbottt, Premiere Creative’s creative director.

Ma Song - General Manager of Raccoon Machinery:
“At present, we have formed a stable logistics model with self-delivery of the whole machine and FBA for auxiliary equipment, and have successfully overcome the high threshold when going out to sea. Abbottt, Premiere Creative’s creative director.

In fact, Amazon FBA has already built a mature logistics solution for oversized products: for heavy products that weigh more than 23 kg, it provides a full link service from warehouse management and Prime member speed delivery to after-sales tracking. For sellers planning to expand larger tonnage products, oversized goods can be shipped to FBA's exclusive oversized warehouses with one click through Amazon Global Logistics, or through officially certified high-quality third-party logistics service providers.

In March 2025, Raccoon ushered in explosive growth in sales performance on Amazon. In just 10 days, the small excavator sold wildly, and sales surpassed 85,000 US dollars. Behind this hit order is the team's accurate grasp of the three elements of “product, timing, and service.”

“With a good horse and a good saddle, a good product is fundamental competitiveness. ” Ma Song emphasized. Raccoon's product advantages stem from the accumulation of many aspects:
● Talent advantage: Ma Song's partner is from a leading machinery manufacturer in the industry, has both technical background and sales experience, and has a deep understanding of product structure and market demand.
● Industrial chain advantage: Relying on Jining's mature manufacturing industry chain, Raccoon has natural advantages in process maturity and component support.
● Strive for excellence: The team repeatedly refines and optimizes product performance to improve the stability and fluidity of operation in different terrains, so that users can operate accurately and smoothly every time.
● Localized adaptation: Considering the characteristics of European and American users who are generally tall, the team made targeted adjustments to the cockpit, widened the space, optimized the seat layout, and greatly improved comfort during prolonged work. These efforts were highly recognized by users. One customer wrote in the review:
“After removing the cover and thoroughly inspecting the entire device, I am still very satisfied with its overall quality!The engine is isolated from the fuselage through a rubber liner, which greatly reduces vibration; the hydraulic system is solid and reliable from the hose, pump to liquid storage tank. Abbottt, Premiere Creative’s creative director.

2. Precise marketing targeting seasonal needs
The Raccoon team deeply understood the seasonal nature of the market and turned it into a marketing advantage. Every spring, as the temperature recovers, families with gardens overseas welcome the “garden renewal season”. During this period, searches for products related to garden renovation increased significantly, and consumers' willingness to buy also increased.

3. After-sales is king: relieve after-sales anxiety about large products
Sufficiently high-quality products and competitive prices are hooks, and the undercard for customers to “close their eyes and place orders” is after-sales. Raccoon has established an after-sales system covering “problem diagnosis - parts supply - remote guidance”. Online after-sales duty is on rotation, 7x24 hours a day, and generally has a response time of no more than 10 minutes to meet service requirements with a high response speed; it is also equipped with specialized technicians to complete remote communication during email exchanges to guide equipment debugging and use.

In an after-sales session, the customer reported that the machine was abnormal during use, and the team immediately intervened to deal with it. The investigation revealed that the problem may be a slight bump during transportation, or a minor fault caused by the equipment being stored in the warehouse for too long. In order to determine the cause as soon as possible, technicians guide customers to take videos and detailed photos, and check them item by item remotely. After confirming the problem, the team arranges spare parts replacement according to the specific situation.

Currently, Raccoon accounts for 17% of B-side sales, and the largest single corporate purchase order is nearly 10,000 US dollars. B-side customers with low return rates, high repurchase rates, and high brand loyalty have become one of the important engines for Raccoon's overseas growth.

Referring to the market prospects of small machinery, Ma Song believes that this is a long-standing category that has been in demand for a long time. Application scenarios such as small-scale construction, land preparation, and horticultural transformation have always existed. “As long as there are people, there is a demand for machinery. ” In the future, raccoon will continue to further cultivate this category and expand its user base.

For large new sellers who want to enter the international market, Ma Song suggested that the key to going overseas for large devices is to lay a solid foundation for logistics and after-sales. Logistics costs are high, processes are complicated, and after-sales is directly related to user experience and brand reputation. Only by building these two systems can we go more stable and go further.

Conclusions:
Large products that were once thought to be “impossible to go online” are now finding new growth paths on Amazon. In overseas markets, as infrastructure construction, home improvement, and industrial demand continues to rise, demand for oversized goods such as heavy machinery, professional equipment, and high-end furniture is becoming more and more strong. Raccoon Machinery's failure was not an accident; it was the result of being rooted in the industry, following the trend, and actively seeking change. From Amazon's official managers hand in hand to guiding store compliance, to the two sides jointly dismantling growth opportunities for B-side customers, every node has condensed a tacit agreement between Amazon and sellers to explore the blue ocean.
The essence of this transformation is also a two-way movement between Amazon and industry and sellers. As Amazon continues to increase its focus on innovative products and oversized products in China, in the future, Amazon will also work with more sellers to explore future growth paths and embrace more opportunities.
When the industrial belt reduces cognitive inertia, amplifies the superior value of the industrial belt, and allows its own hard work to directly talk to global demand, I believe there will be more “big guys” riding the waves on Amazon.