Whether something is shareware has nothing to do with its price. Shareware can be as high as $1000 -- though obviously this is rare. The distinction between shareware and commercial software lies in how it is distributed and the payment methods usually invoked. And even if this is not true, (that price is unrelated to the classification of software as shareware), there are still plenty of shareware titles for $25 or higher -- right here on VT.

Shareware is generally a full working product -- not a stripped-down or limited demo -- which people are expected to pay for provided -- after a reasonable trial period -- they intend to keep and use the software. Payment is NOT optional for shareware but it DOES rely more on the honor and integrity of customers. The trade-off to the developer for the risk of dishonest customers is that his (her) software gets more widely distributed than it would otherwise. Commercial products, in contrast, do not depend on the good will of customers for payment and generally do not provide the option for a trial period (crippled demos notwithstanding).

Now if one feels the price of a product is too high or otherwise out of line, that's fair game -- no argument there. But the issue of price is separate from whether software is classified as shareware or commercial. (Normally this post should go as a comment to an existing post, but that precedent has already been broken below.)