Artisans are always encouraged to buy a DSLR, a light box, a tripod, a macro lens, photography classes, etc. The message here is that you must spend $3,000.00 in order to sell your $25.00 items. So, in addition to being an artisan, a bookkeeper, a purchasing agent, and a shipping/receiving clerk, you must also become a professional photographer.
Well, as best as I can tell, that's all a waste of time and money; unless of course you have a desire to become a professional photographer. But you can do just as well with your little compact pocket camera if you care to.
A neighbor lady of mine is a jewelry artisan and asked me to do some closeup photos for her. My equipment consisted of an old Canon A1000 compact point & shoot camera, a $20 macro lens attachment and nothing else. No tripod, I simply set the camera to ISO 400 and snapped hand held shots. No light box. I simply used a table near a window facing away from the sun, and here's how the shots came out. The entire photo shoot took me about 10 minutes, and i shot about 25 pieces from different angles. all told, perhaps 100 photos in 10 minutes.
you be the judge. good enough for online selling? not too shabby for a $100 pocket camera?