J&J Flea Market — Attraction in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY HERE! Do not shop here OR sell here. We went this morning to sell some home made food items and when I went in to the office to pay for our 2 tables ($20) she never asked us what we were selling and we were completely unaware that we could not sell our items. We had not even finished getting completely set up and when the gentleman with the clipboard came around to check tables, he told us that we could not sell the items and we needed to go to the office to ask for our money back. When I asked for it back, she told us we could not have it back. We had only been set up for about 5 minutes and immediately packed everything back up. They do NOT have any signs or rules stating that you cannot sell preservatives on the property or on the website, and again, she did not ask me at all what we were selling when I was checking in. They should have given us our money back. This is absolutely DIRTY. This is stealing! We didn't sell ANYTHING in the 5 minutes that we were there. We had absolutely no issue with the rules that you cannot sell homemade goods, but the fact that they we were not there long and we sold nothing, J&J not giving our money back is dishonorable. We even had a bystander who heard both sides of the story and stood up for us. This woman (the manager) had the audacity to tell this man that he "needed to keep his mouth shut." She then claimed she was going to call the police, which we waited for, she walked off and returned with a man and on the phone with whom we assumed were the police. It was just the owner that she was on the phone with. She only told him her side of the story and she was not in our presence when she told the story so, God only knows what she actually told him. She hung up the phone and said that she would not be giving us back our money and she had talked with the owner. When I asked her if we can have the phone number to speak to the owner to tell our side of the story and she told us that she was not allowed to give us the owner's contact information. I'm sorry, but what kind of establishment has a setup where you are not allowed to speak to the owner about a complaint? My husband even explained the situation to the man who was escorting her upon her return after calling the owner, and you could tell that he agreed with us because he did not verbally speak out against us but he knew that he was not allowed to disagree with her. Let it be known that when we were walking back to the car, the man who was with the manager even walked back with us and he indeed agreed with us while he was not standing next to her. He said, "I know, I just work here and she's the manager." Before we walked back to our car she went on to "ban" all of us from the flea market, as well as the innocent bystander who was only standing up for what was right. So, sorry sweetheart, but you were very wrong in this situation. You have no right to ban that man from ever buying or selling there because he was exercising his freedom of speech and giving his input. SHAME on the J&J Flea Market for treating their vendors, and longtime customers this way. My husband and I have spent hundreds of dollars at this flea market over the past few years. At this point, it's not even about the $20 that was technically stolen from us, it's the principle of the matter that this is not how you treat people who spend money with you. Trust me, banning us from J&J flea market is not a punishment. It does not hurt any of our feelings at all! We have no problem ever returning there with our money again, and anybody that we know that sells there, or goes there to shop, will hear about this and you will also lose their money. Treat your people right, and you will be treated right. Treat us like dirt, that dirt will get rubbed right back in your face.

Also, notice in the picture that I shared here, from J& J's own Facebook page on...

My wife & I are Flea Market "Fleas" - she even ran a fleamarket for a long time over in Thomson, Georgia (since closed) - so we know flea markets, having been in - and out - of the business for a long time.

J&J Fleamarket is GREAT for the shoppers: the prices are low, especially on the outdoor tables. Indoor vendors always cost more - but they pay a higher rent, the advantage being that you can actually depend on an indoor vendor who stocks a particular "thing" or line of items to be there - and generally you can beat a Walmart price and go even lower if you are willing to engage in friendly negotiations. :)

Wear some sturdy comfortable shoes - the paths are semi tarred, cracked concrete, buckled some, and with intruding roots. It is a well laid out flea market arranged in fairly orderly rows, and the vendors offer a little bit of everything, plus a lot of surprise finds, treasures in back corners, etc. We (my wife & I) like the tables due to the spontaneity of the vendors' wares - meaning you never know what you might find, nor what kind of deal you might be able to get - and usually it IS a good deal.

I highly recommend setting aside a half day minimum for touring this market - a full one if you are into visiting every store and booth and are into paying attention to little things and talking with vendors. There are plenty of good produce lines, as well as hardware, tools, and house wares. It seemed decently kept up for a fleamarket - the trash cans not overflowing, and no obvious mounds of litter. Not bad for a vendor, though there is a LOT of competition, and good for the buyers, too. J&J features a huge, hilly outdoor area which is not very conducive to ADA / disabled travel; however, their indoor facilities are up to par, as are their covered sheds. They do have water - aka drainage - problems, and its best not to go in the rain - plus only the really die-hard vendors will be there.

The Mexican indoor restaurant puts out some pretty fine authentic chow if you want a meal - better than most flea market fare. The vendors are suffering as they have for many years - the bottom fell out of flea marketers profiting back in the mid-90's, which is when my wife & I got out. It used to be you could have $300 days in the late 80's - but by the late 90's you'd be lucky to make rent. :/ A lot of the problem is the same problem HERE at the J&J market - there are TOO many vendors and they are all competing against each other, usually by cut-throat pricing which gets to the point where NO one is making a profit. This is not the market's fault; it is more of a "society" and perception of "fair value". Everyone expects to get things at the flea market cheap which has, especially in this day and age of Walmart stores, made things hard for the vendors, most of which are poor people struggling to make ends meat, if that, and only affording beans if they are lucky.

You can also find the following services: New & used tires & mounting; headlight lens reconditioning, computer repair, virus removal outlets; cell phone accessories galore, chargers & headphone outlets; auto sound systems with & without install; custom ironwork (they've got "a guy"); artwork (both cheap & custom); jewelry outlets, cheap sunglasses, and very cheap books, 2nd hand clothing, and new good socks & essentials. You can get dry goods & pharma stuff cheap, just watch the expiry dates. It's a great place to let the children "roam" (Attended, of course!) - because they will be fascinated by all the great finds. You can use this experience to teach them about life, and money, and the need for a good education in some cases. ;) Plenty of good "junk" food to eat, plus treats, & usually some fresh donuts around, or other...

Some of these other reviews are just plain unfair. I've been going out there every weekend for years, and I've never encountered some of the problems mentioned in those super-old 'reviews'. There is the occasional bootlegged movie, but I'd hardly call it 'all over', especially since I've SEEN cops busting some of them before. There's even less porn; the only times I've ever encountered it was behind curtained doors and in closed boxes you needed to request access to. Honestly though, if that's what you're after, there's safer places to get it. Probably why there's hardly any out there. Of course, I don't often go through the buildings... the outside area is where all the deals are! I get there early in the morning and walk the whole place once or twice before setting up my own table, I've found some awesome stuff. Found a sealed copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee once, guy only wanted $15 for it. That's worth ~$150!

They CAN tow your car if you park in a vendor-only spot, but those spots are usually by the vendors' tables, and generally they'll only tow it if the vendor complains about not being able to access their area — which is an understandable reason to have a car moved. How's a vendor going to set up if they can't even park by their table to unload their stuff? And the vendors' parking spots are all clearly labeled with signs, that reviewer from forever ago can't blame the Flea Market for their inability to understand that a spot labeled Vendor Parking is for the vendors.

As for the review talking about animal abuse, the Flea Market limits the sale of animals to Row 1, which is also the shortest and least busy row. There's usually some people selling chickens there, and one selling tree saplings (not an animal, but to each their own, lol), but aside from that, it's usually people selling (or sometimes giving away!) puppies and kittens they didn't plan for. I do think people should get their pets fixed if they didn't want them having babies, but it's hardly an animal abuser's paradise.

If you're going to visit the Flea Market, I'd recommend getting there between 10-12, when it's the busiest and the most vendors are set up — or if you're hunting for rare items and have a whole day to waste, get there super early (6-8am) and walk around multiple times, as vendors come and go throughout the day. Don't go on a rainy day, it's always dead out there when it rains. I often see people getting out there around 4ish pm, too — the Flea Market itself closes at 5pm, but the outside vendors generally close up shop around 2pm, and the indoor areas are usually gone by 4pm. Keep that in mind if you're planning to visit. Also keep in mind that some popular events, like Football home games for example, sees a dramatic decrease in market-goers; you can't go to the home game and the Flea Market at the same time, unfortunately. And lastly, don't go on a rainy day unless you're planning to see a vendor in one of the buildings that you know will be there, business is always dead out there when it rains.

I'd wholeheartedly recommend visiting at least once; if you get it on a good day, it can be like Christmas morning. I just wish the 'good days'...