A New Zealand teenager tried to sell some sexy photographs of his mother on an internet auction site after the pair had an argument, a local newspaper reports.

The 18-year-old student opened an auction for "five naked photos of my Mum" on the Trade Me site after being told to clear the family garage and sell any unwanted items on the site, the Herald on Sunday said.

Trade Me pulled the auction the next day, but the student, identified only as Michael, was soon back trying to sell a series of eight-year-old "glamour" shots of his mother, including one of her in underwear.

His mother Jennifer, 44, who did not want the family name published, told the paper she was "pretty annoyed" when she found out about the first set of photographs.

"He was quite naughty... I thought you cheeky little git," she said.

But she was also annoyed that Trade Me withdrew the second set of pictures, of which she approved.

"I insisted Michael show me first, the little bugger. They are quite artistic. There is nothing dodgy about them."

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

Trade Me spokesman Jon Macdonald said both auctions were withdrawn because of "inappropriate" photos.

"We don't really want to be the place where people list photos of their mums in their underwear," he said.

- AFP