Buy.com outlines plans for sale of $86 million in Nasdaq shares.

Buy.com Inc. has made some moves that signal the company soon could go public again.

The Aliso Viejo-based online retailer has updated its January filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by outlining plans for the privately held company to sell $86 million of shares on Nasdaq.

"That shows they're probably going forward with the IPO," said Tom Taulli, a Newport Beach consultant who has advised online retailers.

Buy.com, a seller of CDs, DVDs, electronics and computer gear, had an ill-fated walk on Wall Street during the dot-com boom, eventually being taken private again by founder Scott Blum in 2001 at a small fraction of what it once traded.

The company's latest filings, which include improved financial results for the first half of the year, were the first since a February amendment to the original filing.

Company spokeswoman Shaila Arora said, "We're not releasing any further information regarding the timeline."

In its latest filings, Buy.com disclosed resolving an issue that might have concerned investors. Blum has essentially forgiven most of the $26 million in debt owed to his ThinkTank Holdings LLC, parent of Buy.com, as well as several other companies. ThinkTank lent Buy.com money to "fund our operations and to meet ongoing obligations," the company said in a past filing.

ThinkTank still is owed $5.8 million, which is set to be repaid with money raised in the stock sale. The rest of the offering's proceeds are set to be used for working capital and possible acquisitions, Buy.com said in a filing.

A fall offering likely would give Buy.com exposure at a time consumers are starting to do their holiday shopping. The online retailer made a little noise in early September when it launched what it called a "price war" with competitor Amazon.com Inc. Buy.com said it planned to sell in-stock books at 10 percent less than Amazon's prices.

Large Internet retail stocks have done well in the past three months. Shares of Amazon are up 25 percent in the past three months, eBay Inc. is more than 15 percent higher and Overstock.com Inc. has gained more than 10 percent.

But this isn't necessarily a hot market that has to be tapped now, said Alan Mendelson, senior partner at the Costa Mesa office of Latham & Watkins LLP. Deal flow is up, but investors still are hesitant to jump into public offerings. "I think you'll see a bit more, but it's not gangbusters," Mendelson said.

Even with a public stock offering there are long-term questions about Buy.com.

The company is a holdover from the tech-bubble days when it was unique just to hawk wares on the Internet. Today, Buy.com sells the same gear as Amazon.com, CircuitCity.com and BestBuy.com. And Buy.com isn't very diversified; nearly 90 percent of sales come from technology and consumer electronics products.

Investors have taken a shine to Internet-based companies with a twist. Brisbane-based Shopping.com, which doesn't sell products directly, but finds other Web sites with the best prices, saw its shares climb nearly 60 percent on its first day of trading last October and was bought by eBay for more than $600 million in June.

Blum, who now lives in Wyoming, owns 98 percent of Buy.com's shares. His family also stands to benefit from an offering.

In 2003, Blum's father and mother-in-law were granted options to buy nearly 700,000 shares at an exercise price of 17 cents each, according to a filing. The company said Blum's father, a former technology executive, and mother-in-law provide advisory services, including "advising Mr. Blum on the direction of the business, providing feedback regarding the Web sites and customer service, and recommending new service offerings."