Britney Spears's star may be fading - but her hair is already making a comeback.

Only days after shaving off her famous locks amid fears about her deteriorating psychological state, it emerged this morning that the pop superstar's hairdo is being sold on eBay.

A host of advertisements had appeared on the auction site by this lunchtime claiming to be selling either a strand - or the whole - of Spears's chopped hair from Esther's Hair Studio in Tarzana, California.

But while some sellers were evidently struggling to convince potential purchasers of their products' authenticity - most notably by parading locks of the wrong colour - two vendors were apparently attracting four-figure bids.

Sales being conducted under the name kruse7631 had reached $4,100 by lunchtime today, while a strand of Spears's hair apparently put on line by tonysfiat had claimed bids of up to $5,049.

Also being offered for sale was a partly-drunk can of Red Bull energy drink supposedly sipped by the 25-year-old singer at the salon last Friday, as well as a Bic lighter she allegedly left behind.

Today, internet chatrooms and website discussion forums were dominated by users discussing the newly-skinheaded star.

Pundits were apparently undecided over whether Spears' recent unorthodox behaviour - which included dressing up in strippers' gear at a nightclub, checking into a rehab clinic but leaving after a day, going partying with no underwear with Paris Hilton, and getting a fresh tattoo - constitutes a deteriorating mental state, or simply another way of gaining publicity.

On the celebrity discussion website forums.hollywood.com, hundreds of fans were giving their views and commenting on the latest pictures of the shorn Spears, while stories on the superstar were topping search engines.

"After seeing some of her videos again it was kinda sad, but I suddenly had faith that she'll be back again," one fan wrote, on the hollywood.com site.

"I hope this is the case and her life doesn't turn out to have a tragic end."

On The Sun's online discussion forums, more than 800 comments had been posted about Spears, with one user asking: "Has she taken leave of her senses? Is she doing it for publicity?"

At the Times Online, a variety of reader comments included a demand for people not to "waste our emotions on a fame-hungry, wealthy, adored, beautiful mother-of-two".

This lunchtime, it was also revealed that Spears has put her Beverly Hills house on the market having owned it for only two months.

She was reported to have bought the six-bedroom Tuscan-style villa in December last year for $7.2 million. However, it was reported today that the home is now being advertised as being for sale again with an asking price of $7.5m.

Psychologists have said that Spears' behaviour is worryingly erratic and required attention. Video footage from a Los Angeles television station over the weekend showed Spears taking the clippers to her hair in full view of the paparazzi gathered outside.

Esther Tognozzi, the salon’s co-owner, told US Weekly that after Spears had cut off her brunette hair extensions she “just looked in the mirror and said with tears in her eyes, ‘Oh, my God, I shaved it all off. My mom is going to be so upset with me’.”

Bad press

— In 2004 Spears married her childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander in Las Vegas. The marriage lasted 55 hours

— In the same year, her video for Everytime had to be reedited to remove scenes showing her drowning in a bathtub after slitting her wrists

— She married dancer Kevin Federline in 2005. Their divorce was revealed in November, two months after the birth of her second son

— Fans were upset when photos were taken of her without underwear

— She was criticised last year after she was pictured driving with her baby on her lap

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