Newbie needs inexpensive eBay item lighting tips

Hi,
This is my first post and boy, am I glad I found your forum! I have been taking photos of shoes, handbags, magazines, etc. with an Olympus Camedia 4000 zoom and have serious lighting issues. I have Photoshop Elements 2.0 but it doesn't have the answers to the problems I'm having with shadows, jumbled background, major flash blowback, etc. I saw somewhere that there are tabletop studio lighting kits and although they seem to be what may help, I don't want to invest $400 or so right now. Does anyone have any ideas for improvising one of these? What materials/fabric would I use to shield the items I want to shoot? Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks!

No need to invest a dime, actually. You can solve this dilemma with common household items. I did a LOT of eBay ads a while back, with an old Olympus digital. For some, I found the built-in flash quite sufficient. For others, I used a Halogen 'work light' for the lighting.

It is best to use a plain and simple background - one that neither detracts from the subject, or causes reflective problems with the lighting. I have found that an ordinary bed sheet works quite nicely for this. If you have one in a soft pastel color, that yields more attractive results than basic white.

Rigging a 'Light Tent' for next to nothing is quite easy. This is where you can use the White bedsheet. Using the colored ones here will change the color of your lighting, resulting in some funky subject colors. You can still use the colored sheets as base and background, but use only the white ones between the lighting and the subject.

By "flash blowback", I'm taking it you mean where the glaring reflection from the flash totally obliterates the subject. A common problem, especially for items in plastic packaging - and easily solved. Remember this 'property of reflection' from high school Physics - Angle Of Incidence is equal to and opposite of Angle Of Deflection. If you shoot with the flash 'straight on', as most people do, then the reflection is going to come 'straight back' into the lens - full force, glare and all. Try shooting at a slight offset angle - you'll get plenty of light, while the nasty glare deflects in the opposite direction, out of view. This slight angle of shooting, is also useful to conceal unwanted shadows behind the subject, out of view.

It's basic - it's easy - and YOU can do it! If the results aren't absolutely 'picture perfect', just remember what your mission is. It is to sell items on eBay, not to win a photo contest. I assure you, with just a little attention to even half the details I've presented here, your shots will outshine 98% of the pictures in competitor's listings - and you will be counting the results all the way to the bank.

Thanks for the very informative response to my lighting question. I have an Olympus digital and called their tech support who suggested that I turn off the flash when I have enough light indoors and this helped alot. The flash "blowback" disappeared as an issue. I will try the off angle approach Clemmie suggests if I do need to use a flash. And, judging by the pix I see on ebay, there's no worry about excellent quality...I just need to let buyers see a clear, uncluttered photo. Thanks again for your help.