Just got an ad that the phone is 899 before trade-in.

Scrolled to my phone listed at $300 trade in, expecting 899 - 300 to = 599.

Nope. In Samsung maths it = $674.99

But good news! Educators can get extra discounts, and it says it will apply -$180 for this discount. Expecting 674.99 - 180 = $494.99

Nope again. Right away Samsung lowers the initial discount again from $300 now down to $180 and makes the total = $539.99

But $539.99 is still a great discount on the phone right?

Nope.

Samsung recalculates it again after going to the cart, so now $539.99 = $674.99 before tax, $737.43 after tax.

TLDR: Slimy Samsung app lures you in offering $780 off the price in a 23 ultra, but ends up only knocking off $225 after your trade-in.