A limited pair of shoes is fabric, glue, and a box. Worn, it is a different pair than dead in the box. In the overview Security for collectors, sneakers sit with what is too big for a drawer and too sensitive for the heating cellar.

What breaks without a thief

Soles yellow, glue lets go, fabric fades, the box warps in the damp and creases in a stack. You store them dark and dry, with little pressure on the box, not in the plastic bag that sweats. A pair you wear, you do not list as dead. Shoe trees or acid-free paper in the shoe, depending on what holds the shape without staining the sole.

When someone comes

A shelf full of original boxes on the glass wall is a display. Rare pairs do not stand there. They stand in an unobtrusive cupboard or, if the sum requires it, in a locked room, not in the hallway. A pair is not a piece of jewelry for the small certified safe, unless it is so small and so expensive that it fits. Usually the room is the protection: door, sightline, insurance.

The folder

Model, size, dead or worn, condition of the box, proof. Photo of the side, the sole, and the box label. The policy needs these lines once you insure more than a hobby.