A resin cutting disc costs a few yuan and cuts steel on an angle grinder.

This unremarkable industrial consumable has been turned by a Yongkang, Zhejiang couple into a Top 3 product on Amazon US, trading first place with century-old giants.

But 23 years ago, their entire assets were a 7-square-meter shop in Yiwu.

From a 7-square-meter shop to a global distributor network

Li Aizi and her husband Hu Hongjia come from Yongkang, Zhejiang, "China's hardware capital." They grew up in hardware and ran stores from Northeast China to Beijing.

"At our Beijing store, four to five million yuan a year was the ceiling. Its service radius was too limited," Li recalled.

In 2003, they moved to Yiwu, rented a 7-square-meter shop, and founded SALI's predecessor, Pengcheng Hardware Trading. In 2004, a Pakistani customer bought over 20 products—their first real export order. The business grew steadily over the next decade.

But Li always felt a thorn in her heart.

A scene in a Middle East alley

Around 2010, on the busiest hardware street in the Middle East, they saw only German, Japanese, and American brand signs. Li asked: "Where are Chinese-made products?"

The interpreter led them into a narrow alley. Chinese hardware tools were piled on street stalls, sold as cheap goods with no after-sales service or quality guarantee.

"That hit us hard. China has the world's largest manufacturing system, and many overseas brands are made in Chinese factories. Why can't we have a decent place abroad?" — Li Aizi

She realized OEM work was like building on sand: customers switch over a few cents. In 2010, SALI was launched, and they insisted on printing "Made in China" on every package.

Many foreign buyers objected: "Why not register a German or Japanese company? Made in China cannot command high prices!"

Betting savings on the brand

The road was far harder than expected. Early costs for global exhibitions and trademark registration exceeded 10 million yuan a year with almost no return. They sold their factory, home, and villa and poured the cash into the brand.

"After seven or eight years, we were back to square one, like starting over." — Li Aizi

This persistence helped SALI gain a foothold in Africa, the Middle East, and other emerging markets. By 2019, it had nearly 20 national distributors, sold to 160+ countries, and launched global offline services.

Yet Europe and the US remained a glass ceiling. Giants controlled mainstream channels and would only accept OEM.

The $6.99 turning point

In 2022, Amazon became the door. "With offline B2B, we might never have entered Europe and the US under our own brand," Li said.

The first two years were rough: the team changed frequently, and a heavily stocked product was delisted over patent risks. Li said: "If we quit now, SALI will never enter Europe and the US. Treat it as incubation investment and start again."

SALI rebuilt its strategy: instead of following trends into power drills and angle grinders, it chose low-cost, high-frequency consumables—resin cutting discs. Western giants sold them at high prices, leaving room to reshape value. Defect rates were kept below 0.1%, with full responsibility promised for quality-related injuries.

The real turning point was a tiny order from California: five discs for $6.99.

"The amount was small, but the satisfaction was beyond words! It meant our Made in China products with the SALI logo reached consumers across the ocean." — Li Aizi

Afterward, overseas craftsmen left detailed Amazon reviews on cutting speed, sparks, wear, and durability. Standard discs vary greatly in safety, sharpness, life, and efficiency.

Traditional trade never revealed real usage. On Amazon, reviews, ratings, sales, and returns are clear and directly inform operations. Li now reads reviews for hours daily, pushing the factory to adjust formulas and fiberglass mesh.

Ratings stabilized at 4.8–4.9, and SALI discs reached Top 3 on Amazon US, trading the lead with century-old giants. Annual cross-border sales hit 74.81 million yuan.

Now SALI is focused on Amazon Business. B2B GMV on Amazon doubled from $1 million in 2024 to $2 million in 2025, opening a new growth point.

Making a distributor drop a Japanese giant

After online success, SALI's largest overseas distributor, which had long represented a Japanese hardware giant, dropped that agency and switched channels, inventory, and after-sales entirely to SALI. The partnership has lasted over 10 years.

"SALI met end users' needs just as well, plus price advantages and better service and support, so they no longer needed another brand." — Li, relaying the client's judgment

At distributor conferences, SALI showed Amazon data and feedback from hundreds of thousands of Western craftsmen. "That fired up our distributors' confidence," Li said. "Success in mature markets like Europe, the US, and Japan is strong trust endorsement anywhere."

Today SALI covers 160+ countries, has 45 national distributors, 5,000+ SKUs, and produces 150 million discs annually.

Online and offline now work together: new products are tested on Amazon to capture real demand, then validated products are introduced to the 45-country distributor network for bulk distribution. Online builds reputation; offline builds scale.

Three things SALI got right

· Picked the right battlefield: chose low-cost, high-frequency consumables instead of power drills; giants priced them high, leaving room to reshape value.

· Bet big: sold their villa to stick with the brand and printed "Made in China" on every package, investing over 10 million yuan a year for years without returns.

· Broke through with Amazon: used cross-border e-commerce to bypass middlemen and reach consumers directly, feeding reviews into products and online success into distributor confidence.

From a 7-square-meter Yiwu shop to trading the lead with century-old giants, Li says the essence is simple: "The road traveled at home will eventually become the road of globalization."

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