O.C. TECH BEAT / JONATHAN GAW

This week, Irvine-based Autobytel.com Inc. is expected to go public, hoping to raise $63 million by selling 20% of the company.

The offering coincides with that of Santa Clara-based Autoweb.com Inc., which also is expected to begin selling stock this week. That firm hopes to raise $58.8 million by selling a 21% stake.

Both companies offer automobile information and purchasing services over the Web. Their competitors include Microsoft Corp.’s Carpoint site.

A quick glance at their respective income statements tells why Autobytel feels the public will value the company more: Last year, the company had sales of $23.8 million, compared to Autoweb’s $13 million.

One big expense difference: Autobytel last year spent $8.5 million in product and technology development, nearly 15 times the $586,000 that Autoweb spent.

Just going by the numbers, the companies are typical of e-commerce players going public. They lose lots of money and they concentrate on revenue growth.

In the land-grab mentality of these early Internet days, Autobytel’s significantly higher accumulated deficit over the years ($43.3 million versus Autoweb’s $17.6 million) and their net losses in 1998 ($19.4 million versus $11.4 million) just means they’re trying harder.

Where does the money all go? As with most top-tier e-commerce players, sales and marketing make up far and away the largest expense. With both Autobytel and Autoweb, sales and marketing costs outstripped not just all other expenses, but revenues as well.

Gotta pay to play.