When 18-year-old Michael was told to clean out the family garage and sell what he could, he probably never dreamed that would be his entry into the world of soft-core pornography. But that is exactly what happened when the New Zealand boy's rummaging turned up a stash of old photos featuring his mother in her birthday suit.

He went straight to the Internet with his find and offered them up to the highest bidder at an online auction site called Trade Me. In an ad that read, "If you're going to make someone clean up your crap you might want to go through it first," Michael set the starting bid at $5 and offered to throw in a frame for free.

"I did it a bit sneakily but she found out. At first she was was pretty shocked, but then she went along with it. I just wanted a bit of extra cash, we're not rich or anything," he says.

The "five naked photos of my Mum" listing was quickly pulled by the auction site but Michael was not deterred. He then tried to auction some "glamour" shots of his mom, including one in which she is wearing nothing but her underwear and a smile.

Surprisingly, his mom was okay with the public sale of her risque photos. "I insisted Michael show me first, the little bugger. They are quite artistic. There is nothing dodgy about them," 44 year-old Jennifer says.

The auction site, however, was not okay with the photos. Much to Jennifer's disappointment, the site pulled the listing due to fears of becoming known as the "place where people list photos of their mums in their underwear."

"I wanted 50 per cent of the sale, but more than that I miss the nice comments," she says.