3 main issues:

Type\Grade of stainless - 300 Series - 304 is most common, 302 is supposedly better

Finish - satin and brushed are usually considered better - they age better

Guage - thickness, lower # is thicker - according to Consumer Reports after testing 18-23 guage they found no differences in performance - Consumer's dropped a 5 pound weight into the sinks and found they all performed the same - usual advice is minimum 20 guage - I have seen some folks here advise you need 16 guage - your call but I'd save my money

Other things to look at are the location of the drain (s) - rear placement should give you a bit more usable space in your sink base.

Here is a link that might be useful: basics on stainless

I have never seen an undermount from a reputable company that was thinner than 20 guage.

who are good suppliers on ebay? anyone gotten their stainless sink there and been happy?

thanks yall!

Also check the sound absorption coating. SS can be loud if it's thinner and has no or inadequate sound absorption coating. [Sound of water running, dishes hitting it, GD vibration.]

Good point about the sound dampening. Consumers on this issue said:

"We also listened to the noise made by running water and dropped weights to see if we could hear a difference between thicker and thinner models."

There conclusiuon "guage doesn't matter". They didn't do brand rankings (they mention testing Kohler, American Standard, Elkay and Moen by name) because they found such little difference between them. Most companies add sound dampening on all models which may be why Consumers found no difference but it is a good idea to check for that on the spec sheet if your not buying a name brand.

We bought ours through a plumbing supplier so no idea on internet sources but if you search there are some threads on good on-line retailers. Quite a few folks here have bought their sinks on-line I think.

All in we paid $271 for a double bowl 20 guage sink - could have done better but we didn't want to compromise on the brushed satin finish on the deck (ours is a drop-in) and the rear drains.

Some here have purchased Ticor sinks on eBay from Galaxy Tool Supply (GTS) and gotten them for half-price. I haven't heard any problems with the Ticor sinks. (I've heard about at least one problem w/one of the other manufacturers, but I can't remember its name right now!)

If you do go the GTS route and a Ticor sink, be sure it's one of the ones that comes w/a free sink grid for each bowl...that seems to be the difference b/w a true Ticor and the other manufactures at Galaxy.

I have a Ticor sink (S405D) and have no complaints, I would buy it again in a heartbeat! It was shipped quickly and no problems.

HTH!

I've had great experiences buying kitchen items from these two eBay sellers, and I think both carry stainless sinks in many brands:
Home & Stone
BlueBath