Purchased ringtones from iTunes store not in "Ringtones" Library

Question

I purchased three ringtones from the iTunes store, from the Ringtones list. Now they appear in my "Music" and "Purchased" categories in iTunes, but not in Ringtones. They do not sync with my 3G iPhone. There is nothing in the Ringtones list when I try to sync. I called technical support and the guy said to change the file extension of each of the ringtones from "M4a" to "M4r", using Finder on my Mac. But that didn't do anything either. When I select the ringtone in Music, right click and try the "create ringtone" option, it asks me if I want to buy it - which, obviously, I don't since I already bought it. I use the US iTunes site.
Thanks

Answer 1

Skyman61,
To purchase a ringtone for the iPhone takes a few steps.
1. Find a song that is available as a ringtone. If you previously purchased it from iTunes as a song, you can skip directly to creating a ringtone if the distribution rights holder for the song has licensed it for being made into a ringtone. The song will have a bell next to it in your iTunes Library. If you need to purchase the song, purchase it from iTunes for 99 cents.
2. Select the song in the library, and choose create ringtone. You will then get to select the portion of the song you want as a ringtone (up to 30 seconds) to use as a ringtone when they do charge you more.
3. Purchase the ringtone for 99 cents for a total of $1.98, which is less than many cellular networks charge for a ringtone, and you don't get to choose the portion of the song you want to use.
It sounds like you purchased a song with a bell next to it, and haven't created the ringtone yet.
Hope this helps,
Nathan C.