A Small Act of Grace

We just sold one of our cars.

My red Jellybean.

Yes, that’s what we called her. 

My partner Dana decided to get an electric truck, and the car he was driving was newer than mine, so we decided to sell mine.

We posted the announcement and received some quick offers, but they were from dealers lowballing it, and we wanted to sell it to an individual.

But private sales are so challenging. How do you ensure it’s a real person and that they are going to give you real money? These days, even a cashier’s check is not always guaranteed to be the real thing.

One Sunday, after pushing off the scammers and others too far away to make sense, we had a few solid appointments to show the car. After the test drive, both potential buyers were excited, loved the red color, and said they’d get back to us. 

The next day, one of the two sent us a letter asking us to sell him the car.

A letter!

He wrote us a page-long story about why we should sell the car to him. He turned this letter into a PDF and attached it to an email. In the letter, he shared that his wife agreed to let him buy it, and he spelled out all the reasons we should sell it to him. He was planning to use it to Uber, and it would save him about $500 per month.

The funny thing is, he did not drive the car himself when they took it out for test drive. He said to Dana, “No, it’s your car, you drive it.”

He was clearly nervous he might crash it during the drive.

So, when we got the letter, my partner and I laughed about it because it seemed over the top. But there were some cultural differences likely at play here, and it was kind of sweet.

Dana had also told the guy about a tax credit he might qualify for because the car was priced at $24,990. We had strategically priced it because if the buyer was below the salary cap with a car below $25k, they could get the tax credit.

The purchaser kept calling Dana a good Samaritan for letting him know about it.

Of course, the new owner was thrilled—it would save him $4000! 

It certainly was an act of grace that my partner told him about this opportunity. But the second act of grace was this letter. And the third was us agreeing to wait several weeks for everything to go through. 

The buyer had to get a loan. 

We had to process the sale through an online dealer vendor who would take and transfer the payment so he could get the tax credit. 

It all took a long, long time. And a few days later, the other couple who looked at the car came back and made a solid offer. 

At that point though, we were already in. 

This guy was so excited about buying the car he kept reaching out to Dana to make sure we were all good. He offered to pay $10 more, a total of $25,000, because that was the max he could pay and still get the tax credit. 

That was another act of grace.

$10 is a small act, but when does anyone ever buying a car offer to pay more?

The buyer sent a picture of the check he received from the bank before depositing it to the online vendor. And a picture of the receipt when he took $4k out of his bank account, which he planned to pay in cash.

When we finally met to transfer the car, the buyer was so excited. He kept smiling, and thanking us again and again, as we showed him how to set up the car so he could drive it home.

And before Dana and I left, the buyer handed us a $25 gift card to Starbucks. In the card envelope, he had written a beautiful note: “Dana and Kellie, I don’t know how to thank you guys. Thanks to your generosity and sacrifice, we are able to get a beautiful car. May God’s grace be upon you guys today and always!” 

He had even spelled my name right (which most people don’t), and I had never met him before. 

I asked Dana afterwards, “How did he know how to spell my name?”

“It’s on the title,” Dana said.

And I thought the buyer was even going to hug us before we left. 

Whoever gives you a gift card when they buy a car from you?

That simple $25 Starbucks gift card was the sweetest act of grace.

Before I left, I patted the car and said to the new owner, “Take care of my Jellybean.” He laughed in delight at her name. But I reassured him that he could call her whatever he wanted.

I said to Dana as we drove away, “Watch out—we might become friends with this couple!”

The alignment of our values felt so good. We both were thrilled with where it all ended up. Dana and I wanted to sell Jellybean to someone who would love it—and there was no turning back after how this guy through the process with us. 

It was the most grace-filled transaction I have probably ever been part of.

In fact, it wasn’t a transaction at all. 

It was sharing something we had loved with a new friend.

How could you bring grace to others in your day today?

What is the smallest or biggest act of grace that you could share?

There might be someone out there right now that you know who would love a note, a small gift card, or some other tiny token to show you are thinking of them. Who might be the lucky new friend of yours?

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