Ah yes...looking for a camera that will take great photos.

It's the photographer who takes the photo...hire one...he or she will supply
the camera.

So....do you need these for Ebay or the web....2 mp will be fine.  Depending
on the size of your products you might want a lens that will do macros. You
will want a tripod and a remote cable release. You will want a shooting tent
and a couple of lights.

You will want some experience....get some or hire some.

 Even that Nikon equipment might not produce good results.   For
you.  If you want to spend less money, you'll need to learn what's
required.  If you can get to a good camera or book store, you might
find a good book that you can learn from.  Then it's up to you to
decide what kind of equipment to get.  DSLRs would make the job
easier, but almost any halfway decent P&S could probably also
satisfy your requirements if you learn what their limitations are
and how to compensate.  But if it's a P&S you get, try to get one
with a flash hot shoe and be prepared to get a tripod and learn
about using multiple light sources.  The lighting equipment doesn't
even have to be expensive.  As the subjects will be stationary you
could even use cheap halogen lights (better brush up on "white
balance") instead of multiple flashes.  If you go with flashes and
don't connect them with cables, you'll have to know which remote
slave units won't be fooled by your camera's "pre-flash".  No matter
how much money you end up spending, whether under or over $1000, you
don't want to be in the position after buying the equipment where
you then learn that your necessary spending has just started.

 Most people want to get good prices, but you seem to be fixating
too much on it.  Ever hear the phrase "penny smart and pound
foolish"? (see http://www.fairlygoodpractices.com/poundsmart.htm )
You business goal should be do what it takes to increase revenue and
profits.  If you save a little money up front by getting equipment
that either can't do as good a job, or that makes it more difficult,
requiring much more time and effort, in the long run you'll lose.
People that want to be able to produce similar shots just as a hobby
or for the fun of it can afford to be more frugal.

The other poster is right in that if you are shooting for eBay or anything
on the Web you don't need a lot of megapixels.  2 will do fine.  What you do
need is a camera that will take sharp pictures, and most decent point and
shoot cameras will when used with a tripod.  The other thing I would be
looking for is a camera which has aperture priority and maybe manual
exposure settings.  When shooting watches and such you will need to deal
with depth of field to make sure everything you want in focus is actually in
focus, and a camera that will shoot close-ups without extra lenses or
equipment would be nice.

Most of all you need good lighting and backgrounds for your items, which is
probably more important than the camera.  Many of the great product shots
you see on eBay are often shot with rather elaborate setups, some of which
can be faked with reflectors made of all kinds of things, and tents made
from sheets and translucent gallon plastic bottles.  Just watch your color
balance.

Nikon 990 or 995 will get out of your way and make plenty good
pictures, given appropriate background and lighting. They are out of
production but durable and inexpensive.

It's more a learning and practice thing than an equipment thing.

If you want cheap many little digicams have macro mode, allowing you to get
within a couple of centimeters of the object you are shooting. Because you
can preview the image on the LCD screen you really don't need a reflex like
the D70, and since the CCD chip is small (and the lens focal length short to
match) you get tremendous depth of field. Check the minimum focus distance
in macro mode, since it varies by model.

You certainly will want a small tripod--this will both keep the pictures
sharp by eliminating camera shake and allow for fine adjustments in framing.

This should be more than adequate for what you seem to need technically.
Past that you will need to think a bit about lighting the products, which is
really the secret to good product photography.

Toby

Try a tripod. Much cheaper than a new camera.

B&H will sell a Nikon D50 kit for about $700US. New.

Cameras take photographs.
Good photographers take good photographs.
Garbage in, garbage out.
It sounds like you need to learn how to take the photos you need,
rather than find a camera that will take them for you, since that
camera doesn't exist.
Taking product photos can be very difficult, depending on the product
and the market (why are you taking them?).
Good luck!

It is not the camera, its the lighting.  for the camera you can use just
about any advanced point and shoot that lets you adjust the exposure and
focus manually.  You don't need a high pixel count either, you usually end
up reducing the res down to a large thumbnail anyway.   Look at a canon
powershot G2 or 3.  4 or 5 mega pixels, but you can select all the regular
program modes OR shoot manually, you can find a G2 for about $200

you can do anything you could with a manual film camera.

then search ebay for ezcube, you will probably need a 3 foot one.

you would also want a tripod.

this reply is echoed to the z-prophoto mailing list at yahoogroups.com

A "zlr" may be what will make quickest work for you.

Something like a Minolta A1 (or similar Nikon, Canon, etc.) with an
accessory flash (3600HS or 5600HS) and most important: a tripod.

Get some a large white thin cardboard sheet and make a product stand
(tack cardboard to the wall, put a stool or table below and curve the
sheet over the stool/table.  Clamp in place.  Place the product on the
flat part.  The smooth curved background will look smooth and flat.

Finally, ans most important for a good look is to bounce the flash off
of the ceiling.  Shoot at a smallish aperture (f/8 f/11 ...) so that the
product detail is all in focus.  (This is not art, this is sales).

For most small products this will provide ample lighting and detail.

The advantage of digital is that you can get all of this working quite
quickly.

the basic principle is keep it as simple as possible.

NOTE: If you do a lot of this, then a "tethered" lashup where the taken
image is immediately available on your PC for editing, will speed your
workflow immensely.

Cheers,
Alan