I heard the dolls were being made as part of a 
class that studies marketing. (That's why we've 
seen more than one of something you wouldn't 
really expect to see lots.) The bidders should 
all be the seller's classmates, and no, they're 
not going to pay $400 for the doll - they're 
bidding basically to vote on which doll is best 
and/or marketed best. The seller's fees are 
probably covered by the school/teacher running 
the class. I know the one doll I saw previously 
ended at over $700. I haven't added up what that 
amounts to in seller's fees, but it's probably 
not *too* signifigant an amount for a teacher who 
wants to garner interest in his/her class. On the 
other hand, they may be covered by an 
overachieveing student. I've also seen people do 
crazier things to get a good grade in a class.

I have no idea if this is true or not. . . It's 
something I was told when I saw the first one of 
these dolls (always Barbie dolls) on Ebay.

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac