soapstone is a fairly soft stone, so it will scratch and wear easily( you can see a small scratch in the picture below the spoon) the first couple of scratches are very visible, but once the counter has had some use, you dont notice the individual scratches anymore, it just gets a wonderful "worn" patina. I have been doing stone work for 10 years, and it is still one of my favorite stones.

Thank you! about Price - how does it compare to granite?

does it show fingerprints? I am curious as to how it compares pricewise, to honed granite.

fingerprints don't show. some varieties will show water marks if you oil it, apparently. see http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0815275631359.html for detailed discussion. our kitchen had it installed 13 years ago and it looks great still, we basically do nothing except wipe it down occasionally with a little soap, but we often ignore clear liquid spills for hours, no problem. some chips on the edges from previous owners (ours is the soft, green kind) are the only downside. it was probably oiled at one point, but not in the past year we've lived with it, except when we get cooking oil on it by mistake, and that doesn't seem to be an issue. the somewhat dull surface is good camouflage if you don't like to clean constantly.