However, I stand by the assertion that ordering new guns online, that I could buy directly from my local shop at competitive prices, is rude and disrespectful. I reckon nobody wants to go to the effort of developing a relationship with their local dealer...
You are assuming that everybody's LGS is like yours. It sounds like you have a good one and you support it well, as you should. However, haven't you been reading about the LGS at other locations? This forum is filled with gun owners who are disgusted at how their LGS treats them. I have seen it up close and personal myself. Face it, not every gun shop is like your gun shop. Read what the posters are saying and understand that there are a lot of dogs out there who feel you should kiss their backside for even talking to you.
A local gun shop that wishes to thrive in the computer age will welcome any transfer he can get with open arms. He doesn't have to be the cheapest in town but he has to know how to treat the customer in front of him. Do you realize how expensive it is to get a customer to walk into your business? Advertising is a huge cost for any business just starting up as well as the well established businesses. Advertising is what you spend to get customers to walk into your store so you can use your sparkling personality and your merchandising talents to get them to spend more money.
A customer asks you to do a transfer for a new gun you actually carry. You take his business so you can get him into your store. Once there, you use actual sales ability to show him some accessories for his new gun. Yeah, he may shop the net for the same things but his new gun is there and he is stoked and you show him holsters, magazines, snap caps and ammo he may need. If you have a range you can offer him 25% off for today if he tries out his new gun there. Of course he needs a box of ammo. He comes out and is happy but says he didn't like the sights as much as his Gun X. You tell him that you can send his slide to Novak, or whomever, to have new sights put on, etc. You turn a $30 profit (no cost but time for a transfer) to a potentially nice profit while earning a customer's future business. While he is there you can show him the same gun he just purchased and tell him that you would have been close to his price and had it the same day. Show him you want his business and will work with him if he becomes a regular.
If he gets in a used gun and before he accepts it, you can give it a free check over to let him know if it's safe. Once he signs the 4473 and takes it home, it's his. Maybe you can see something he wouldn't because you are in the business. You can earn his trust even if you didn't sell him the gun. Sell him yourself and your business and he'll surely come back.
If he is a reloader, show him you stock the popular powders and primers and can order anything he needs. Tell him that you order more than he does so the Hazmat fee is absorbed. If he doesn't reload but is thinking about it, show him some stuff to whet his appetite. He'll come to you for his reloading supplies when he is ready to start.
Being a jerk because you can allows the customer to go elsewhere, never to return. Maybe Old Gus doesn't care because his buddys allow him to pay his bills and hang out around guns all day because his building is paid for and he's used to living on a meager income. That works for Old Gus but the new kid on the block will take what Gus tosses aside and will be glad to take their bottomless pockets of money while his retired friends cherry pick the nice, old stuff that comes in.
When he closes his doors because the internet ruined his business and Walmart stole his ammo business he can look in the mirror and blame everyone else but himself.