Within economics, a market in which runs under laissez-faire policies is really a free market. It is “free” inside the sense that the government makes no try to intervene through taxes, subsidies, minimum wages, price ceilings, etc. Market prices may be distorted by a seller or vendors with monopoly strength, or a customer with monopsony strength. Such price distortions might have an adverse effect on market participant’s welfare and slow up the efficiency of marketplace outcomes. Also, the relative degree of organization and settling power of customers and sellers markedly affects the functioning with the market. Markets where cost negotiations meet stability though still usually do not arrive at desired outcomes for each sides are thought to experience market failure.

Markets are a system, and systems have got structure. System works fine when the structure of a system is in good condition. Structure of a (utopistically) well-functioning markets is defined the theory is that of perfect competition. Well-functioning markets of your real world should never be perfect, but basic structural characteristics can be approximated for real life markets, for example
many small customers and sellers
buyers and vendors have equal use of information
products are comparable

Buying and marketing in well-structured markets creates a cost that satisfies each buyers and vendors, not buying and selling alone because the free market proponents tells us. For example, trade unions are occasionally accused of spoiling the market mechanims of a labour markets, in reality it’s the opposite: blue collar industry unions make the client and seller much more equally powerful once they negotiate the price for any working hour. When the customer and seller are equally powerful, then the price for any commodity is appropriate to both parties.