Finding a supplier

Starting a small baby clothing business OR dog beds!! — supplier advice needed. I am NZ based

I’m looking at starting a small side business selling baby stretch and grows in a pretty specific niche style. I’ve found designs I love on Alibaba, but once shipping is added it ends up around $30 NZD per item, which just isn’t workable when starting small.

I’m on a tight budget and only want to start with a small run to test the market (planning to sell on Marketplace and Trade Me first). I’m not interested in using AliExpress or SHEIN-type products.

Where are people actually finding suppliers when they’re just starting out with low budgets and small quantities?

I’ve been toying with another idea for a specific type of dog bed I haven’t really seen around, so if anyone has experience sourcing pet product manufacturers, I’d love to hear about that too.

Posting here because FB groups can be a bit brutal, so hoping for some practical advice from people who’ve done this rather then people jumping straight to negatives shutting me down 😅 - we all start somewhere right?