Just noticed your reply. I have personal experience with this actually. I had a niche market shareware product, and it got rave reviews. It was awesome, dominated its niche, and users loved it. All seven of them.
In the meantime, my friend had made a mass market shareware program. He got thousands of registrations, and made a lot of money.
But your experience may be different. I'd love to read more if you have any good links or even some google terms (names, companies, products) to suggest I look at. Thanks.
If it's a niche application, then not so much.