I find the market wards to be much inferior to the AH system. I will however say that the market wards have improved a lot since they first came out, back then it was an absolute disaster. Right now I think that they are more user friendly, but still not as user friendly as I would like a market system to work.

However I don't like them, I don't like using them, I actually avoid them. I don't sell much or buy much because I don't like having to go there, I feel that it's clunky, troublesome and overly complicated. In FFXI I could spend hours on the AH in Jeuno while waiting for xp parties. I loved to browse, the AH was simple and quick. The AH was split in different organized section with categories, I didn't have to zone or look for a retainer. It was easy to compare gear, browse in an ascending level, take a look at the history and see how many items where on sale without having to move a muscle. I could sell things without having to summon a retainer too.

My hope is that Ishgard will work somewhat like that. However that would kill off the market wards in the three nations.