little gems buying guide & policy

Thank you for extending the life cycle of your child’s clothing!

The Little Gems mission is to reduce, reuse, and recycle the beloved-but-short-lived styles of our kids’ clothing and we couldn’t do it without your generous participation.

Credit: Richard Cahan for Evanston Roundtable

Little Gems accepts previously owned children's clothing by season—from January 1st to the end of June, we accept spring/summer styles; from July 1st to the end of December, we accept fall/winter styles.

For accepted donations, we offer store credit on pre-owned clothing purchases (not redeemable for cash value). See our Best Practices below for more information on quality donation standards.

Credit: Richard Cahan for Evanston Roundtable

  • You may drop off items directly at 709 Washington Street in Evanston during operating hours. Please allow two weeks for your items to be sorted.

  • Please limit drop-offs to 30 items at a time. When you arrive, check in with us at the counter and fill out a brief intake form.

  • Items will be sorted within two weeks of drop off. You will receive a text or email notification that your items have been sorted. At this point you have the option to pick up your unaccepted items or choose for us to donate the items to our charitable partners.

  • For the items we select, our pricing model is based upon condition, brand demand, garment materials, and seasonality. How we price individual items is ultimately up to our discretion.

  • We do not provide itemized lists and by dropping off garments, you agree to this policy and our pricing model.

Best
Practices

We currently accept like-new specialty brands, seasonal pieces, and style-driven clothing, sizes 0 to 12. We take a curated approach to our inventory and the items we do or do not take are entirely at our discretion. While we launder all clothing prior to selling, we do not accept clothing with stains, rips, tears, broken fasteners, etc.

Please review your items prior to bringing them to us; a good rule of thumb: if you wouldn’t buy it in its current condition, our customers probably won’t either.

Please refer to our “Brands We Love” list below. This will give you an idea of the types of brands we accept. However, it is impossible to list every great brand so please reach out with any questions!

Brands We Love

7AM Enfant, Ace & Jig, All Small Co., Apolina, Babaa, Bien a Bien, Bobo Choses, Bonpoint, Catamini, Cecil & Lou, Dodo Banana, Hunter, Jacadi, La Coqueta, Les Gamins, Little Creative Factory, Maison Me, Mini Boden, Mini Rodini, Misha & Puff, Monbebe, Molo, Mabo, Oeuf, Patagonia, Pehr, Petit Bateau, Rudy Jude, Rylee & Cru, Tambere, The Animals Observatory, Tinycottons, Ugg, and Vintage

more info

    • Bargain brands

    • Cat & Jack

    • Carters

    • Gerber

    • Jumping Beans

    • Old Navy

    • SHEIN

    • The Children’s Place

  • • Personalized clothing

    • Clothing with the names of local sports teams, schools, camps, or tourist attractions

    • Incomplete sets of any kind

    • Underwear, socks, and worn pajamas

    • Pre-teen or junior sizes

    • Quantity: Drop off a maximum 30 items at a time

    • Condition: All items must be like-new or gently used

    • Cleanliness: All items should be clean (no stains, pilling, fading, or holes)

    • Cohesion: Keep sets together

  • Any items not accepted will be available for pickup in the store for 10 days, after which they will be donated to our local nonprofit partners.

    We donate items we do not or cannot sell to local community organizations and nonprofits such as Cradles to Crayons. We also work with local shelters and Evanston Northshore Women’s Hospital on an as-needed basis.

    Thank you again for your interest and participation!